


Snow White and the Seven Werewolves

by itscoco



Series: Chronicles of Galadia [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), aphmau - Fandom
Genre: Book 2 of 4, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Lady irene - Freeform, Magic, Minecraft Diaries - Aphmau, Minecraft MyStreet - Aphmau, Snow White AU, Werewolves, fairytale AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:21:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28155999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itscoco/pseuds/itscoco
Summary: “Is it… ok? That I stay here with you guys?” she asked, looking around at all the bright wolf eyes watching her. “I don’t… really know that I have anywhere else to go.”Blaze hopped off his bed, approaching her and giving her a short yip. Dotty followed close behind him, snuggling up against Aphmau’s side and nosing her arm.Once again, they weren’t speaking the same language. But the message was clear.“Thank you,” Aphmau said, reaching out to rub them both on their heads. “You’re saving my life by doing this.”~~And we're back on the CHRONICLES OF GALADIA train, this time with a SNOW WHITE CROSSOVER!! If you like a good fairytale au, this one's for you. It's the story of Snow White with a twist- what if the princess didn't meet seven dwarves in the cottage in the woods, but seven werewolves instead? And what if the evil queen had another motive for getting rid of her daughter?
Relationships: Aarmau - Relationship
Series: Chronicles of Galadia [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2062698
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE!!: This is book 2 in the Chronicles of Galadia, which will eventually be a series of 4. I recommend reading The Sleeping Prince first, though it's not absolutely necessary. Chronologically this story happens a few months before TSP, but it's still the second in the series. Enjoy!!

~

Once there was a beautiful and powerful witch, known far and wide as the lady Irene.

Some who knew her simply knew her as a princess, a member of the royal family that ruled benevolently over the small kingdom nestled deep within the woods. Others knew her as the Lady of the Wolves, her connection with nature and all the wildlife within her domain having an especially special place in her heart. Under her dominion, the werewolf tribes that otherwise in the past had been revoked or shunned thrived in a newfound light.

When Irene had lived a long, fulfilling life, she used her powers to create a very special spell. Once it had been cast, her power would not simply fade once she was gone- it would be passed down through her descendents, always staying alive with the royal bloodline. 

She died, and many generations passed. Irene’s gift was handled differently with each generation, and over time, it was all but forgotten.

But it continued to exist.

The legend of the Lady Irene was not forgotten by all, however. It was rumored by some that when the Queen Sylvana rose to power, her husband the king passing away unexpectedly, that it was her intention to somehow find a way to come into the possession of the Gift herself. She was known throughout the kingdom for her vanity and mystery, and how she was willing to go to extreme lengths to preserve her own beauty. Under her rule, the werewolves were forced back into hiding and even hunted down. They seemed to have disappeared without a trace, only to resurface in whispered rumors of curses and bloodshed.

One beacon of hope shone throughout the queen’s rule, however. Her daughter, the young Princess Aphmau, lived in the palace and grew in beauty each day. Fearing that her daughter may one day surpass her in looks, the queen forced the girl to wear rags and work in the palace as a scullery maid. 

Every day, the queen approached her magic mirror and spoke to it, questioning who the fairest in the land appeared to be. And every day that the mirror answered that the fairest was surely herself, the young princess’s life was safe one more day.

  
  


~

Though the weather outside was absolutely stunning and a warm breeze floated gently into the queen’s chambers, she hurried to pull the thick velvet curtains over the window closed.

Queen Sylvanna crossed the cold stone floor, her long gown billowing around her as she swept across the room to the wall opposite the window. This wall was covered in numerous drapes, all different types of material ranging from light gauze to more thick velvet. It would maybe be considered a nice feature wall of sorts, and it certainly looked artistic- but its true purpose was not to decorate but to conceal.

Sylvanna reached up into a dark blue curtain, tugging at a thick rope. The drapes and fabric hangings pulled back like an opening curtain. Beneath it all, hanging against the bare stone wall, was a large ornate golden mirror. Sylvanna let her hands slowly drop from the rope, gently coming to touch her face. She admired her reflection for a moment, tapping her sparkling earrings and brushing some dark hair behind her ear. A small smug smile played across her face.

Seeming to snap out of it, she shook her head and straightened up. 

“Alright Mirror,” she said with some authority. “How are we doing today?”

Sylvanna’s reflection was wiped away, replaced by a strange swirling misty sort of vortex. The mist congealed in the center, taking the shape of what could be described as a face. It more resembled a mask of some kind, though it was nothing less than alive as it regarded the queen before it.

“What does her majesty require of me today?” the face in the mirror asked, its low voice booming all over the stone walls. Sylvanna shot a nervous glance at the door before shaking her head, dismissing whatever worries she had thought.

“ _ Well _ , the same as usual, of course,” she said, the smug smile coming back to her face. “I come bearing a simple question. And I can always rely on you to have the answer. Who is the fairest in the land?”

The mask-like face rose a bit, the mist still swirling around gracefully behind it. “There are none in the land whose beauty matches your own, fair queen.”

Dropping her serene and regal composure, queen Sylvanna let out a breath of relief and fell backwards into a large cushiony seat a few steps behind her. 

“Whew!” she said, leaning her head back. “That never gets old. I’d ask you that every few minutes if I could. Imagine having a whole magic mirror who knows the truth in every situation tell you you were the hottest chic in the kingdom! Ha! But no one can. Because no one’s me.”

“There may yet be an exception,” the mirror’s voice grumbled. Alarmed, Sylvanna’s head jerked back up to look back at the mirror.

“What- what does that mean?” she spat.

“While your majesty’s beauty knows no match, there is one who’s beauty has come to surpass it,” the mirror said slowly. “As long as she lives, you will not be the fairest in the land.”

Slowly and silently, like a viper rising to strike, the queen stood and stepped away from her seat. Her eyes were locked unblinkingly on the mirror.

“Who?” she breathed.

“Her rags cannot hide the beautiful lady she is growing to become,” the mirror boomed. “Your own daughter, Princess Aphmau, possesses a beauty that rivals your own.”

Sylvanna stared at the floor in disbelief, running a hand absent-mindedly through her hair. Realizing her mistake, she quickly smoothed it back down. Her head snapped back up to look at the mirror, anger quickly overtaking the shock.

“Is- is that what people are saying? Is that just a rumor? I mean, I mean she doesn’t really get away from the palace very often so I mean I don’t think too many people even really know what she looks like, but, but, surely,  _ surely  _ this isn’t the whole story. Factually I’m still the fairest. Right?”

“I speak only the truth, your highness,” the mirror said, its face dipping in what could be interpreted as a bow.

Queen Sylvanna screamed, snatching a cushion off the chair and tossing it full-strength at the wall. It bounced off and landed at her feet as she began to pace. 

“I knew it, I  _ knew  _ this day would come,” she muttered. “Don’t know what I was thinking. Combining  _ my  _ genetics with the most attractive man I’ve ever personally seen- well, I mean what else was I supposed to do… no other opportunities like this one… thought maybe I could get away with it… I should have  _ known  _ she’d inherit his treachery as well… surely there’s still a way…  _ something  _ can be done…”

Sylvanna paused in her pacing, looking back to the window. Though the thick velvet drapes were still pulled shut, she could still picture the courtyard that was visible from her balcony. And somewhere in that courtyard, there would be a young princess blissfully unaware of the plot currently forming in the queen’s mind.

~

Aphmau closed her eyes and took a deep breath, happy to take a pause to just take in the beautiful spring morning air.

And then she immediately regretted it when her foot caught on a loose vine.

She yelped, tumbling forward and dropping the huge wooden bucket of water she’d been carrying with her. It smacked onto the ground at the same time she did, rolling on its side and splashing water all over the courtyard steps. Aphmau pushed herself onto her knees, brushing her shoulder-length black hair out of her face and watching the water spread with dismay.

“Welp,” she muttered. “I guess that’s one way to do it.”

Resigning herself to her situation, Aphmau reached over and grabbed the scrubbing brush off the ground and began to work on the stones. Cleaning the courtyard wasn’t Aphmau’s least favorite chore in the world. It certainly beat laundry or heaven forbid, composting. She was interested in the idea of cooking with the kitchen staff, but she got the impression none of them really trusted her with creating edible food or handling knives. Or maybe the concept of the princess cooking with the servants just seemed a little too outside the realm of normality. Either way, Aphmau liked having the opportunity to chat and gossip with the palace staff.

On top of all that, the weather was certainly stunning. The courtyard gardens were in full bloom, the trees covered in glittering emerald leaves and the flowers popping up and creating small splashes of color everywhere she looked. She truly didn’t mind spending long hours with a bucket and a brush scrubbing away at the mud on the stones as long as the spring breeze played at her hair and blew around the fragrance of the flowers.

She had just begun on the first step on the staircase when a small flock of three or four birds flitted down, landing on the step above her and hopping around. Aphmau paused, watching them flap and jump around, tilting their beaks up and looking at her. The one closest to her landed on the rim of the bucket, tweeting as if it were speaking to her.

“Oh, you saw that, did you?” Aphmau laughed, sitting up and brushing some wrinkles out of her ragged skirt. “Good thing I was wearing my work clothes today, huh. I mean, not that I’d wear my good dress to scrub the courtyard. I’ve only got the one.”

The birds took back to the air, flapping and fluttering all around Aphmau as she stood. One landed on her shoulder, and she carefully petted its head with her finger.

“I know, I sort of wish I could dress like a princess more often,” she said. “It’s fine though. It’s probably for the better that my life is more like this. Let’s be honest here. Would I  _ really  _ be that good at the whole royal thing? And think of how busy I’d be. I wouldn’t have the time or opportunity to slow down like this and just enjoy the day.”

The birds continued to chirp and twitter on, flying around in hyper little circles as Aphmau wandered across the courtyard. She approached the centerpiece of the garden- a large stone well, complete with a small roof covered in yellow and blue flowers. She leaned over the side, looking down to the water barely visible at the bottom. The birds came to land on the rim as well, some nestling into the vines and flowers on the roof.

“I like to think this is a wishing well,” Aphmau explained to the birds, tilting her head as she watched her rippling reflection several feet below. “I come here whenever I’m especially upset about something. Or just lonely. Sometimes it’s nice to feel like someone’s listening to what you have to say.”

The small white bird nearest to her let out a shrill sort of sound, making her jump and turn to face it in alarm.

“Except for you guys, of course,” she said with a small smile, rolling her eyes and leaning back onto the rim of the well. 

She gazed back down into the darkness, the sounds of the trees rustling and the birds singing echoing up to her.

“You know what I wish?” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the sounds of the courtyard. “I wish I could just figure out why my mother seems to hate me. I wish I knew if every other princess out there wasn’t allowed to have friends or freedom.”

She squinted for a moment, still watching the water. “Also,” she added as an afterthought, “I want a handsome prince from some faraway kingdom to come sweep me off my feet and carry me off to his bigger, happier palace.”

Still squinting into the reflection several feet below, she focused on the amorphous figure that seemed to be next to her. The ripples in the water smoothed out slightly, and it almost looked like a face.

“I think that would be considered kidnapping, Your Potatoship.”

Aphmau violently jumped, losing her balance and stumbling back at the sudden appearance of another person. Her foot missed the ledge and she tripped a second time, landing flat on her butt on the hard ground.

Scowling up, Aphmau tried to focus on the newcomer’s face in the sunlight. She didn’t need to see who he was, though. Only one person ever called her that.

“ _ Aaron _ ,” Aphmau grumbled, pushing herself back to her feet. “Was sneaking up on me completely necessary?”

“It never is,” Aaron said with a shrug, more visible now from a different angle. The olive-skinned boy in his late teens wore the same maroon and black hunting getup Aphmau always seemed to find him in. He had his usual knife and sword strapped to his side, along with the axe on his back. He also had that stupid red sash tied around his eyes, and it was a mystery to Aphmau how he could ever see with it on. He never had it off, though, so there must have been some way.

“Then why do you DO it?” Aphmau snapped, picking up a few flowers off the ground that she had knocked off in her flailing. 

“Cuz it’s funny.” Aaron said simply. “You overreact to everything.”

Aphmau huffed, stomping back over to her unfinished scrubbing. “Is there a reason you came up here, or did you just want to come bother me more? I do actually have STUFF to do.”

“Queen business,” Aaron said, following her. “Why else would I be here?”

“I dunno,” Aphmau muttered, scrubbing at the stones like they offended her. “Snooping? General obnoxiousness?”

“I just wanted to see what you were doing.”

“Working. Like you’re supposed to be. So you can take that smug look and go do whatever it is you came here to do.”

“For someone who’s known for her kindness and beauty you’re being awfully ugly right now.”

Attempting to ignore him, Aphmau found herself doing mental gymnastics trying to figure out if he’d just complimented or insulted her. 

For some reason the former concept made her cheeks feel hot. She assumed it was just the usual frustration that came with any one of Aaron’s visits. Ever since he’d started acting as the queen’s huntsman when Aphmau was 12, he’d picked up a habit of tracking her down wherever she was in the castle just to annoy her. She’d come to despise the cool sort of nonchalant demeanor he had, along with his ability to always seem to know what she was thinking and exactly how to get under her skin.

In retrospect, she guessed she sort of liked the attention since it didn’t really tend to come from anywhere else. But she would never admit something like that to herself.

“Haven’t you already scrubbed these steps this week?” Aaron said from somewhere behind her. “I didn’t realize these stairs needed so much cleaning.”

“When they run out of things for me to do inside they send me out here,” Aphmau said, guestering around her. “And I mean, you also just tracked a good deal of mud and dirt in, if you didn’t notice. Can you imagine if the queen stepped in that? Someone would probably get executed.”

“Fair enough,” Aaron said, turning away. “She sure takes that ‘fairest in the land’ thing seriously, doesn’t she? Do you ever wonder if you’d be out here scrubbing these stones if she were any different?”

Aphmau paused, her arms relaxing slightly as she looked down at the soapy bubbles on the steps. Of course she had. Of course she’d spent most of her natural life trying her hardest to tune out all the rumors, the speculations that the reason the queen was so cold towards her daughter was because she feared she may one day grow up to be the fairest in the land.

But she was her mother. Surely she loved her, even if Aphmau didn’t completely understand her methods.

“I do everything my mother asks of me because I know she means well,” she finally said, going back to scrubbing. “She’s the only person in this palace who doesn’t seem to be sort of…  _ scared _ of me.”

“Hm. I’m not scared of you.”

“I know you’re not,” Aphmau said over her shoulder dryly. “That’s because you have extraordinarily low standards.”

“You’ve wounded me,” Aaron said, rolling his eyes and making his way back towards the arch signifying the exit to the courtyard. “And I do actually have business to attend to. So I’ll let you get back to your very important scrubbing now.”

Satisfied, Aphmau began to whistle a soft tune she’d invented in her head as she continued to clean. She had plenty of time to make up songs while she worked, and it was her favorite way to pass the time. It was also an excellent distraction from unwanted visitors.

“Though as long as we’re talking about standards, I think you’re the one who needs to revise yours,” Aaron called on the way out. “You’re worth more than that.”

There it was. Aphmau's head whipped around to look at him, but he was already out the archway. She, as she so often did in these situations, found herself at a loss for words.

That was another thing Aaron did that made him so obnoxious. He’d prod and bother and harass her for hours, always able to say so much in so few words. And then, at the end of it all, he’d throw in a curveball of some kind that somehow felt like more of a slap in the face than all the other things he had said.

It took her completely off guard every single time. She could only figure it was just another method of his to get into her head.

Well. Whatever it was, it was working. Whether it was deliberate or not.

Her cheeks still warm, Aphmau glanced to the side to see the small white bird again, staring at her and tilting its head. Something in its expression seemed very intentional.

“Oh don’t look at me like that,” Aphmau snapped, wiping her hands aggressively on her apron before snatching up the bucket. “He’s the worst. Don’t ever let him convince you otherwise.”

With that, Aphmau abandoned her stair-scrubbing chore, deciding she was finished with the courtyard as she made her way back to the servant’s supply area of the palace. Someone else was just going to have to clean up the mud the huntsman had tracked in.


	2. chapter 2

~

Aaron made his way through the grand hall, his footsteps echoing strangely around the vast, empty corridor.

It was eerily quiet as he approached the giant wooden doors that marked the entrance to the throne room. Normally, the grand hall would have plenty of people roaming around, cleaning, talking, waiting to get some business or another done. But today it was empty aside from Aaron.

He dismissed the strange feeling in his gut as he pushed open the doors, entering the throne room.

It, just as the grand hall had been, was eerily quiet. The queen sat on the far end of the room on her tall throne, which was composed of twisted black and gold shining material. It stood by itself atop the platform at the end of the long dark velvet carpet, the stained glass windows casting multi-colored light across the high ceiling. Normally, it was quite lovely to look at. This time, however, something felt off. Almost every time Aaron had come to receive orders from her majesty, there would be servants hurrying around the hall, polishing the floor or just standing at attention awaiting the queen’s orders.

Aaron maintained eye contact with Queen Sylvanna as he stepped onto the velvet carpet, the two of them being the only living beings in sight.

She watched him as he came closer to the foot of the throne, his footsteps being the only sound in the room albeit somewhat muffled. When he came to a stop before her, he bent down in a respectful bow and then rose again into attention.

“Good morning, your majesty,” he said, still attempting to maintain an air of normalcy. “How do I find you on this lovely day?”

“It is indeed quite a lovely morning, isn’t it?” the queen said, turning her head slightly to face the windows. A beam of deep indigo light caught her features, sending a sharp shadow across one side. “Excellent weather for hunting.”

Aaron didn’t respond. On any other typical day, the queen would be much more to the point. She often had other things to deal with, and whether she wanted pork or venison on her dinner table usually wasn’t especially high on her priority list. Aaron had grown quite accustomed to the usual protocol. Ride into the palace in the morning at the beginning of the week, receive orders from the queen, spend a few days in the woods doing his job, occasionally send in an update or two, and then receive payment at the end of the week and have a day or two off. The only exception he could think of was when there had been sightings of the golden doe in the nearby woods, and hunters from kingdoms far and wide had come in hopes of tracking it down. Horrified that another kingdom might claim the prize before she could, the queen had insisted that Aaron found it first. That had been an especially long week.

The only other thing he could think of was the werewolves. But nobody had seen one in years.

“I have… a very special assignment for you, my huntsman,” the queen said, drawing the statement out somewhat conspiratorially. Aaron continued to watch her, finding that his heart was beating in an odd sort of pattern. The queen, on no uncertain terms, was very intimidating. Aaron had seen plenty of times the effect she had on people, her beauty being overwhelming to some. But when Aaron heard her speak and looked her in the eye, he felt more of a deep, internal sense of fear.

What did she know? What was this special assignment?

“Your word is my command,” he finally said, raising an eyebrow.

“As it should be,” Queen Sylvanna said, her eyes still reflecting the light strangely. “My daughter, Aphmau. I’ve noticed you’ve taken a bit of a liking to her.”

Aaron briefly forgot the knot his stomach was tied in and withheld something between a laugh and a scoff. The queen raised an eyebrow at his reaction, and he quickly regained his composure.

“We do often run into each other in the palace,” he said, a little stiffly. The queen tilted her head again to rest it on her hand.

“Good, good,” she muttered. “So she trusts you.”

Aaron’s thoughts faltered, confused at where this was going. It was rare that the queen took much interest in the princess. And what did she have to do with him?

“Here is what I wish for you to do,” the queen said, straightening up very regally against the back of the throne. “Take the young princess out into the meadow, or one of the nearby fields. Far away from the palace. Let her have the afternoon off, to… oh, I don’t know. Frolic. Pick flowers. Whatever it is she does. Keep an eye on things.”

Still quite baffled at these instructions, Aaron found himself nodding slowly. “Of course… your majesty.”

“And then…” the queen said, her voice dropping down to nearly a whisper. Aaron took a slight step forward, his full attention on hearing the queen’s words.

“I want you to kill her.”

The knot in his stomach dissolved and was replaced with shock. His eyes met the queen’s, searching for any kind of ulterior message. She stared coldly back at him.

Aaron took a step back.

“Y-your majesty?”

“I think I made myself pretty clear,” she said, crossing her legs and leaning back. “Chop her head off. Stab her with that fancy dagger you got. She just needs to be dead by morning. Am I understood?”

Aaron couldn’t quite process what he was hearing. A stag, he could kill. A boar. A bird.

But the  _ princess _ ?

A million things flew through his mind at once, all piling up on top of each other. His mouth went dry.

For some reason the only thing that made it out was “She’s only 14.”

“I think I know how old my daughter is,” the queen said, rolling her eyes. “I also know I want her dead. Listen.”

Queen Sylvanna sat forward, coming to the edge of the throne to look at Aaron more directly. Aaron felt glued to the floor. “Of all the palace staff, you are one of my most trusted subjects,” she said. “I know you understand I make my decrees for a reason. We got some snitches on this staff, Aaron. Some weak links. I gotta trust someone, yo!”

Aaron continued to stare at her as she cleared her throat, sitting back up in her throne in an attempt to look regal and serene again.

“I am trusting you to do this for me,” she said, placing her hands calmly in her lap. “That is an order. And you know the consequences if you do not succeed.”

Aaron’s eyes drifted to the floor as he worked hard to bury the shock, the disbelief, the protests.

She was right about one thing. He had to consider the consequences.

He forced his face into stony indifference. “Of course. Your majesty.”

“I figured you were the one for the job,” the queen said in satisfaction, rising from her throne. “And. Just to make  _ absolutely certain _ that you do not fail…”

She turned slightly, picking up something that had been sitting next to her on the throne. Aaron watched as she came back around to face him, holding it up where they could both see it. In her hands was a wooden ornate box, complete with decorative carvings and a golden apple insignia often featured on the flags and shields of the kingdom. It was no bigger than a foot long, resembling a case that might carry pens or brushes.

“You’re going to take this box,” the queen breathed, her voice once again dropping down into barely a whisper. “And return it to me with her heart inside.”

Hands cold as ice, Aaron took the box.

Bury the shock.

Bury the disbelief.

“It will be done,” Aaron heard himself say. His voice echoed all over the chamber walls, the room completely empty for a much more evident reason.

As Aaron turned to walk back down the velvet carpet towards the exit, the queen slowly returned to her throne. 

She watched as he disappeared behind the large wooden doors, the small box clutched in his arms. As much as she tried, she couldn’t quite decipher the expression on his face once he’d agreed to do as she asked. She decided to ignore any suspicions of insubordination, however. She was the queen.

She was the fairest in the land.

And she always got what she wanted.

~

Aphmau sprinted over the crest of the hill, admiring how the sunset cast a glowing orange light over the meadow.

She almost never had the chance to come out to the meadow. The palace was pretty deep in the woods, the surrounding villages being a bit of a long trip away. Maybe, if the villages were closer, or if Aphmau weren’t so busy with scullery work all the time, she’d be able to go out like this more often.

All it really meant was she enjoyed the outings when she got them.

Aaron, who had brought her all the way out, hung back in the shadows created by the trees as Aphmau hurried down the hill towards the sea of yellow, purple, and teal flowers at the bottom. As she ran, she was careful not to trample the end of her skirt- she had worn her nice, much more princessy gown for the occasion. It had a deep purple bodice laced up in the middle with a rosy pink ribbon and loose sleeves that clung to her shoulders, complete with a long lavender skirt. She had even tied a lavender ribbon in a neat bow in her hair, though the bow was beginning to become less neat as she jogged towards the flower field.

Aaron had been mostly quiet on the way over, which made for a somewhat awkward trip. Usually he had more snide remarks or sarcastic faux compliments to offer, but all he had really given was his explanation for why he was there and where they were going. She figured he was probably just upset that Queen Sylvanna’s orders were to take Aphmau out to the meadow for the evening instead of the usual hunting.

She did begin to wonder, though, after sitting in the grass for a few minutes weaving together a flower crown, why he seemed so intent on staying back by the line of trees surrounding the field. She figured he couldn’t have much interest in flower-picking, but he almost seemed hesitant to come out into the meadow at all. She finished off the flower crown with a few white fluffy wildflowers, glancing over her shoulder in his direction.

“Aren’t you supposed to be my guard… or… something like that?” she called. “I don’t know how much guarding you can really do from way back there.”

Aaron turned and began brushing leaves out of one his horse’s mane without a response. Aphmau huffed, looking back to her flowers.

Suddenly, her attention was caught by something very small and fuzzy over by the large rocks leading back into the forest. She squinted, focusing on whatever it was. She dropped the flower crown into the grass for a moment, walking on her knees to the little furball struggling against the rock. It was a baby bunny, no bigger than her own fist. Its tiny little ears were flat against its head as it gave feeble attempts to hop up the jagged side of the boulder, and Aphmau felt her heart melt just a little.

“Heyy, hey there,” she said softly, leaning down into a little ball to look closer at the rabbit. It paused in its struggle to jerk around and look at her.

Across the meadow, Aaron watched as the princess directed all her attention to something small against the rocks. Her back was turned to him, her full focus on whatever was in front of her.

He felt his legs moving, carrying him across the meadow.

“Did you get separated from your mom?” Aphmau whispered, reaching forward tentatively with a finger. The tiny bunny watched her with interest as if it could understand her question, bobbing its head toward her finger. She rubbed its head lightly, carefully straightening back up into a sitting position. She reached out, taking the bunny in her hands and watching it watch her.

Aaron’s hand drifted to the dagger on his side. He stepped closer and closer to the girl in the purple gown before him.

“Yeah, good luck climbing that on your own,” Aphmau giggled, glancing up to the top of the stack of boulders. The entrance to the steadily-darkening woods were visible from where she sat, the sound of rustling leaves hinting at the possibility of other creatures nearby. Specifically, other rabbits.

“Do you want me to help you?” Aphmau asked the little bunny, and it dipped its head up and down, its ears twitching excitedly.

“Ok, let’s see,” Aphmau said, standing up and using a free hand to brush grass and leaves off her skirt. She did a quick survey of the area, checking tree trunks and moving shadows for signs of life. Her gaze, to her surprise and satisfaction, fell on a rabbit emerging from the woods above the boulders that was a very similar shade of grey to the one in Aphmau’s hands. Its nose twitched in their direction, and it gave a few curious hops toward her.

“Look at that!” she laughed, standing on her tip-toes to hold the baby bunny up to the approaching mother bunny. “She came looking for you! That’s so sweet.”

The tiny bunny hopped out of the palm of her hand and into the grass, taking off like a shot towards its mom. Aphmau watched as the two of them hopped off back into the woods, a vague smile on her face. “Bye,” she said quietly, watching as the baby stuck close to the mother. 

For whatever reason, the warm feeling that had settled inside her blew away and was replaced by something a little harder to explain. It almost felt sadder. Aphmau’s smile faltered.

Before she could really process what it was exactly, though, she noticed the shadow growing on the rocks in front of her along with the rustling behind her.

Something rose up over its head.

In a split second, a very primal and urgent sense of danger struck Aphmau as she realized there was something- or someone- very close behind her. She spun around, her wide eyes frantically coming to meet Aaron’s.

She felt absolutely frozen and completely immobile, her eyes darting up to the glinting blade he was holding in the air, preparing to swing down.

She felt as if the wind itself blew her backwards, flattening her against the boulder in the same movement it took for her to fling her arms in front of her, the dagger flying, cutting straight through the air towards her.

For a moment, everything was still. And silent.

Aphmau’s mind finally began to work again, the adrenaline forcing her thoughts to become coherent.

The dagger had not made contact.

She forced her eyes open, which she hadn’t realized she had even closed. Aaron was still close enough that she could hear him breathing heavily, see his chest rising and falling. But his arm had frozen about an inch away from her chest. The dagger shook in his hand, not coming any closer.

“A-Aaron?” Aphmau was barely able to choke out, but it sounded more like a shaky exhale. His face was turned towards the ground, the dagger beginning to shake more violently.

Finally, he dropped it. Aphmau jumped, scrambling away from the blade and still watching Aaron in terrified disbelief. He stepped back, staring at the dagger as if it had just almost stabbed him instead of her.

“You have to go,” he finally said, his voice low.

“What?”

“You have to GO!” he yelled, swinging his arms out. “Get out of here! It’s the queen. Get away from the kingdom. Her jealousy, it- her vanity-”

“Aaron, what’s going on?”

Aphmau could feel tears welling up as she scrambled backwards, confusion and fear overtaking her. Aaron continued to gesture frantically at the woods.

“The queen ordered for you to be KILLED, Aphmau,” he yelled hoarsely. “You have to get out of here before she finds out you’re still alive. Go. GO!”

Her feet moving without a single rational thought propelling them, Aphmau nearly tripped for a third time that day turning and taking off as fast as she could go into the woods. She could still hear Aaron’s voice behind her as she ran.

“Get as far away from her as you can!  _ Protect _ yourself!” 

Aphmau’s breath caught in her throat as she sprinted further into the darkness provided by the trees, her panting soon turning into sobbing.

Aphmau ran, stumbling over tree roots and foliage and jagged terrain for what could have been minutes or hours. The weight of everything that she hadn’t realized she’d been suppressing for so long- longing for a relationship with her mother, wondering about the reasoning behind her cruelty towards her, her own lonely existence in a palace filled with people who seemed to know more than she did- all began to crush down on her, forcing her further and further into the woods, hardly taking a second to even breathe.

It had all been true. Those whispers, the palace staff and the people in the villages saying that the queen would do whatever it took to remain the most beautiful person in the kingdom. The rumors that she would rid of her own daughter to keep it that way.

Aphmau had refused to believe it for years. Something as shallow and superficial as who was  _ prettier  _ couldn’t possibly be what was truly driving the wall between the two of them. 

Every time Aphmau closed her eyes, she saw the dagger’s blade glinting in the fading sunlight, and another hysterical sob escaped her. She pushed further and further into the woods, the trees growing thicker and closer together and the leaves and vines surrounding her on all sides. Every waving branch looked like a swinging arm wielding a weapon. Every animal cry sounded like screams.

It wasn’t until her feet missed the ground and slid straight into a moss-covered pond that she stopped running. She plunged into the water, the freezing darkness going over her head when she lost her balance. She struggled back to her feet, shivering and wading through the water towards the other side. The moss gathered around her beautiful dress, which she had tried so hard before to preserve. The closer she got to the other side of the pond, the slower she became. By the time she finally reached dry land again, she was all but dragging herself.

The sun had already set what had to have been ages ago, and it was finally occurring to Aphmau that the sky had grown into an inky black. The light once provided by the sunset was long gone and she could barely see the ground in front of her. 

Barely visible through the trees, Aphmau saw that there was a small clearing up ahead. Completely out of breath, soaking wet, and still emitting small hysterical gasps, she stumbled through the line of trees ringing around the outside. The exhaustion seemed to physically drag her down, making it much harder to move her limbs than it had been before when adrenaline had been running through her veins like fire.

The fire having been extinguished, Aphmau found herself falling onto her knees as soon as she reached the clearing. She collapsed onto the grass, burying her head in her arms. The wild urgency that had been propelling her forward was completely gone, leaving only sickening terror and a crushing sense of the unknown. Muffled sobs continued to shake her body as the night pressed on, the sounds of the forest surrounding her.

Before much longer, the exhaustion overcame the emotion and Aphmau cried herself to sleep, hidden by the shadows of the trees.


	3. chapter 3

~

Soft sunlight shone through Aphmau’s arms, warming her face.

As she slowly began to wake up, she realized that the night had somehow become day. Her dress had dried during the night, some moss still sticking to the skirt. When she moved slightly, she could feel the stiff fabric against her skin.

She could also feel something soft and wet touching her hand.

Jerking her head up, she looked quickly to see what was rubbing across her fingers. She regretted doing so immediately, blinking in the morning sunlight and being almost completely blinded by the rays. Whatever was standing over her scrambled backwards, shooting a good few feet away into the safety of the trees. 

Eyes finally adjusting to the light, Aphmau pushed herself into a sitting position as she took in her surroundings. The clearing was much easier to make out now. Hanging back in the safety of the woods, there were two deer. The smaller one was the one that had been nosing Aphmau’s hand, and it was eyeing her warily from the shade. As Aphmau continued to look over the woods, she noticed the deer were not alone. Raccoons, birds, rabbits, squirrels, and even a stray frog were making their way towards the clearing, all seeming to be watching her.

For a moment, she considered whether or not she needed to be intimidated. There had to have been dozens of them, and their attention was undoubtedly on her. But something about their expressions, their mannerisms, the way they felt.

It was as if she already knew these creatures.

“Um…” Aphmau ventured, her voice almost gone. “Hi.”

The young deer began to step towards her again, its head down. It came close to her, looking at her intently. Carefully, Aphmau reached out and lightly petted its head. It bent down, leaning into a sitting position as she gently rubbed its fur. Behind the deer, the other animals began to make their way into the sunlight, cautiously approaching and surrounding her.

Instead of feeling scared, Aphmau felt strangely comforted. With her other free hand, she began to lightly pet one of the raccoons that had crawled up next to her. A few of the smaller animals crawled across her skirt, nestling into her lap. A few sniffed her curiously. Some stayed back, just watching.

“Well,” Aphmau whispered, vaguely watching herself pet the deer’s head. “This is quite the predicament I’ve gotten myself into.”

The deer nudged her wrist with its head. She couldn’t help but crack a small, soft smile. The two of them may not have been necessarily speaking the same spoken language, but she got the message clear enough.

“I appreciate the support,” she said, bending down slightly to give the deer a tiny kiss.

In the quiet provided by the deep woods, surrounded by the animals- most of which were finding spots to settle down in the grass- Aphmau was finally able to take a moment to breathe and think. So she was in hiding now. For years, things had sort of felt as if they were building up to something like this, so it wasn’t a complete surprise even if it was jarring. She couldn’t go back to the palace. She couldn’t make contact with anyone she already knew. Visiting any of the villages wasn’t likely the best idea either.

“At least I have you guys,” Aphmau said, feeling a bit more confident as she scratched a squirrel behind the ear. She knew animals weren’t the same thing as humans by a long shot, but she never had a problem seeing them as anything less than people. Since she was old enough to speak, she’d been able to understand what the animals she encountered on a day-to-day basis were thinking or trying to say as if they were saying it directly. She’d come to trust them, and they seemed to trust her. Some of the other maids around the castle were prone to giving her funny looks whenever she’d talk to any animals, but she learned to ignore them. If no one else was going to pay any attention to the animals then she might as well just do it herself.

And it led to situations like this. When she found herself without anyone by her side, they rose to the occasion. She was never completely alone.

“Alright,” she sighed, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees, and a handful of squirrels darted into a semi-circle in front of her, twitching their heads back and forth curiously. “My mother is the queen. She’s decided that she can’t live with herself unless she’s the fairest in the land. Or, well. I guess she can’t live with  _ me.  _ I was worried one day she might decide someone was prettier than her. People always said it would be me. Yesterday I guess she finally decided I was. So now I’m stuck out here. I can’t go back or she’ll kill me.”

The frog, which was quite fat and a greenish-brown color, hopped through the grass and landed in front of her. It gave a very garbled, deep croak. Aphmau wrinkled her nose.

“No, I’m pretty sure violent retaliation isn’t the best way to go here,” she said, shaking her head. “Plus if I make an attempt on the queen’s life she’ll have a better reason to kill me. And I also just don’t want to  _ kill my mom _ .”

A few birds, which had been mostly spread out and flying around without much organization, landed in a flock nearby. They all twittered chaotically, and Aphmau watched them, attempting to decipher all their noise.

“Oh, Aaron,” she said. “Yeah, no. He can’t help me either. He did plenty by giving me the chance to run.”

The birds continued to chatter. Aphmau stared at the ground.

“I know he was going to kill me,” she said, softly. “But he didn’t.”

There was a brief silence, the animals mostly having come to a stillness. Aphmau’s mind began to wander.

Aaron had received orders from her mother to kill her. But he hadn’t. Which meant, somewhere deep down, he had a stronger loyalty not to the queen… but to the princess.

Unsure of how to fully process this concept, Aphmau shook her head and carefully pushed herself onto her feet. She began to pick bits of leaves and moss off her skirt, assessing the damage. It felt worse than it looked, as it would turn out. Her little romp through the pond hadn’t completely ruined the gown as she’d feared. After a little smoothing out- and a couple rabbits picking some blades of grass off with their mouths- it almost looked as nice as it had before. This small detail seemed to go a long way in improving Aphmau’s outlook on her situation.

“So what do I do now?” she asked aloud, somewhat rhetorically. She ran through some options in her head. She’d never lived a day outside the castle. She’d never even left the palace for more than a day at a time. She certainly didn’t know how to survive out in the woods on her own. And she didn’t really trust her internal compass enough to find a path to civilization anywhere.

A couple of squirrels began chattering excitedly, zooming up in a spiral around the trunk of a tree. They popped into view on one of the branches, staring back at her. Aphmau couldn’t help but laugh, at least a little.

“I don’t think I’m gonna fit up there with you guys,” she explained. The squirrels looked at each other as if trying to decipher what that had to do with anything.

The larger deer- a stag- lifted its head suddenly, blinking. It got to its feet (hooves idk) and nodded its head purposefully at Aphmau. Curious, she watched as it turned and pointed its antlers further into the woods. It turned back to look at her, its shining black eyes expectant.

“Is there something further that way that could work?” Aphmau asked, squinting into the shady trees. The stag, excited that she understood, bounded around to her back and nudged her forward. She almost tripped, regaining her balance at the last second. “Woah, hey!” she gasped. “Alright! Got it! We’re going this way!”

With the horde of animals crawling, flying, or bounding after her, Aphmau followed the stag back into the woods. She wondered as they walked where it was exactly this deer had in mind. She hoped it wasn’t a cave or a thicket or anything like that, though at this point anything was better than nothing. The longer they walked, the more bearable the woods seemed to get. The daylight had a completely different effect on her surroundings, making the trees more visible along with the green and gold glows that just seemed to naturally happen everywhere. Of course, there was also the constant noise of the small army of animals trampling twigs and leaves behind and beside her. They seemed to keep conversation with each other the whole way, the air filled with chattering and squeaking.

After a half hour or so of walking like this, Aphmau noticed a break in the trees up ahead. They reached the crest of a hill, overlooking the slight decline below them. Aphmau walked to the front of the group, looking to see why they’d stopped.

Down in the clearing, at the end of an overgrown stone path, was a small cottage. It seemed to fight right into the forest, vines and leaves growing up the walls and wildflowers sprouting up all over the roof. Animal tracks were all over the ground surrounding it, giving the impression that it hadn’t been lived in in some time. Eyes widening, Aphmau began to make her way down the hill toward it. The animal army followed close behind, zooming around as she approached.

As Aphmau walked up the pathway to the front door, it occurred to her suddenly that she couldn’t just barge in. The cottage definitely had the look of a place that had been abandoned, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t still someone inside. She glanced around at the animals all around her, looking for any kind of indication that she was supposed to be meeting someone here. They all just watched expectantly, standing on either side of the door.

Taking a deep breath, Aphmau knocked on the door.

No response.

She knocked again, just to make sure. Still nothing.

Feeling a tiny bit of relief, she looked down at the small deer standing by her side. “Guess no one’s home,” she said. 

Finding the door unlocked, she pushed it open and stepped into the dim, slightly musty cottage. She could see from the light provided by the window that she had come into a living room of the sorts, a dusty fireplace to the left and a small, cozy kitchen to the right. It would have been cozier if it weren’t such a mess. A thin layer of dirt coated everything, a handful of chairs overturned on the floor. There were broken dishes in the sink and on the floor in the kitchen, along with cobwebs near the ceiling. Most concerning of all, however, were the noticeable scratch marks in the wooden floor.

Aphmau looked at them, burying her sense of apprehension. She was done cowering and trying to run away. She was willing to face whatever she had to. And besides, those could have been caused by any one of the various clawed creatures she’d seemed to have befriended that day.

One thing was for certain, though. There was one thing that Aphmau had been doing every day since she was 9, getting plenty of practice in above all else despite being a literal princess.

And that thing was cleaning.

“Ok,” she said with a grimace, stepping over a shard of a shattered plate and coming to the center of the room. “I appreciate you guys showing me this place. It’s pretty much perfect, but it’s going to take some work.”

The animals followed her into the house as she spotted a bucket and a broom in the corner, covered in cobwebs. She shook them off, bringing the bucket over to the well pump by the sink. When she reached out to make sure the pump worked- and she was ready to be disappointed- a handful of birds landed on it, pushing it down so that water flowed out into the bucket.

Aphmau stared at the birds. “Are you- are you trying to help me?”

The birds tweeted brightly, hopping around on the pump handle. One landed on top of her head. She grinned up at it.

“I’ll certainly accept whatever you guys are willing to offer,” she said with a little curtsey. The other animals seemed to take this as an answer as well, three or four squirrels scampering up the fireplace to start knocking cobwebs off the corners with their tails. Amazed, Aphmau watched as almost every creature that had followed her there spread out, at least attempting some sort of cleaning. The deer began nosing shards of dishes around on the floor, pushing them into a pile in the corner. A handful of especially adventurous raccoons began working together to push a chair back into a standing position. The frog, which was just now catching up with the rest of the group, blinked absently up at her before plopping straight into the bucket of water.

Aphmau watched it all, her mouth hanging open slightly.

“Well alright then,” she said quietly, lifting the bucket to look at the frog. It blinked back at her.

For the next long while, Aphmau felt back in her element even if it wasn’t an especially impressive one. She joined her new friends in cleaning up the cabin. She scrubbed at the dirt and dust on the floor, animals copying her actions and pushing wet rags along behind her. When she went to dust the fireplace and clear all the dead bugs, birds flapped all around her to pick up anything they could. When she got to washing whatever salvageable plates and bowls she could find, she opened the wooden cabinets so the birds and squirrels could put them in. A few dishes were broken along the way, but the animals seemed so eager to do whatever Aphmau was doing that she just let them carry on.

It wasn’t until she was back outside by the creek washing the dirty linens she had found that she realized where the strange sense of cheerfulness she was feeling was coming from. As she soaked a white sheet in the water, surrounded by animals all rolling around and playing with each other, she realized she’d never really had  _ help  _ before, much less something resembling comradery. Sure, she’d spent plenty of time around the palace staff, and some of them were more comfortable talking to her than others. And she was happy to just listen to them talk to each other if they weren’t. But for the most part, she never quite fit in among them. It was like she’d told Aaron the day before. Most servants around the castle seemed at least a little intimidated by her, since she was, in fact, royalty.

But out here that didn’t really matter. Aphmau took the sheet out of the stream, standing and handing it off to a pair of crows who flew over and hung it on the line with the other drying linens. Off to the side, the deer seemed to have gotten into the dusty old clothes Aphmau had found earlier shoved in a closet. A pair of pants was tangled in the stag’s horns, and it flung its head around wildly while the other rose up and tried to knock them off. Aphmau giggled, coming over to pull them off herself.

It wasn’t until she began to notice the long shadows everything was casting outside that Aphmau realized just how long they’d been at it. It had to be well into the afternoon. They’d been cleaning and straightening the entire day. She also realized, with a sharp pang in her stomach, that she hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday.

To her surprise, there was actually food in one of the cabinets. Curious, she set out a jar of honey, half a loaf of bread, a basket full of blackberries, and a couple rotten apples. She tossed the apples out the window and turned to look back at the food. The bread wasn’t even stale. Whoever had last cut it, though, appeared to have ripped at it with their hands instead of using a knife. She wondered vaguely how it was possible that nobody lived in the house, but there was still perfectly good food inside. And if she should really be eating it.

Her stomach growled louder than her thoughts, however, and she decided to eat now and ask questions later.

After having her first meal in probably 24 hours and sitting in the newly scrubbed-and-straightened cottage, Aphmau’s mind began to wander. She sat on the (now much cleaner) rug in the living room with her back to a carved wooden sofa. She glanced at the staircase nearby, which she discovered from earlier exploration led to a small room covered in bookshelves and another, attached room with five messy beds. She had since washed all the sheets and re-made the beds, feeling a bit odd since whatever family of five must have previously owned the beds clearly wasn’t coming back.

She absent-mindedly pet a squirrel, which had curled up in her lap. How long had this cottage existed? Who built it? How long had it been since they last lived here? All these questions rolled around in her head, and she turned again to look at the staircase up into the darkness.

Surely there had to be more.

“Do you guys think if I poked around those bookcases I’d find more information?” she asked aloud, addressing the number of animals that had stuck around and were now claiming spots all over the room. The stag, which was on the couch above her, leaned its head down and licked the top of her head a few times.

“Gonna take that as a yes,” she said, standing up and heading for the stairs. She figured if there wasn’t specific information on whoever else used to live in the cottage, it would at least prove to be something to do.

~

Deep in the woods, racing through the fading sunlight, six wolves tore through the trees.

At the head of the group, the largest wolf with dark red fur leapt over a boulder, tumbling into an unsuspecting squirrel on the other side. As the red wolf attacked the squirrel, the other five skidded to a halt nearby. Three hung back while two approached the first. The female with blonde-streaked brown fur snapped its jaws at the red wolf, barking aggressively. 

_ I almost had it!!  _ She shot, looking down reproachfully at the dead squirrel.  _ I’m sick and tired of you cheating. _

_ No cheats,  _ the red wolf responded casually, picking up his catch in his maw.  _ Just skills. Try and keep up. _

_ You did trip her on the way over,  _ the other wolf admitted, the sunset glinting off his dark black, almost blue pelt. 

_ I’m a growing boy, alright, I’ve been starving. _

_I’m hungry too!_ The brown-and-blonde female wailed, waving her paws around in the air. _Because you’ve been stealing all my kills!_ _  
__Not everything has to be a competition Maria,_ one of the smaller wolves in the back said, carefully approaching the group. He was cautious not to step in the blood splatters on the grass. A little got on his light brown fur anyway, and he wiped it quickly on a leaf.

_ That poor squirrel,  _ the other smaller male whispered in the back, huddling close to the other female. 

_ We can’t all be vegetarians,  _ Maria said, rolling her eyes.  _ Dunno if you’ve realized yet, but we’re dogs. We gotta hunt. _

_ I hate hunting,  _ the small male said, avoiding looking at the squirrel.

_ Me too,  _ the small female added, raising her pale blue head.  _ I miss back when we were able to grow stuff, and buy stuff. _

_ Well, we can’t anymore,  _ the sleek dark blue male said, turning to follow the red wolf away from the area.  _ Not on our own at least. _

Still careful to avoid the blood, the six wolves began to make their way back through the woods. They traveled in a tight-knit pack, the larger three taking turns at the head of the group. The sunset caused them to cast long, sharp shadows that rippled over the rocks and leaves as they moved. Birds were careful to stay high in the trees, watching as they passed.

The pack approached a break in the trees, coming up over the top of a hill. As soon as the cottage at the bottom of it came into sight, the red wolf came to a full stop, causing the three behind him to scramble and bump into each other.

_ What?? What is it? _

The red wolf stared, the fur on his back standing up. From where they stood, he could see a laundry line set up by the small creek, a few stray linens still hanging to dry. Most concerning, though, was the vague flickering light coming from the windows.

_ Someone’s in our house,  _ the red wolf said. The other wolves hurried to come stand beside him, looking with wide eyes down the hill. 

_ Oh no,  _ the small male breathed, backing up and shaking.  _ No no no, no. Did someone find us?? Are they gonna kill us? _

_ Hey, chill out,  _ Maria said, nudging him with her back paw.  _ It’s probably just who it always is. _

_ Yeah, but when has he ever… cleaned up after us? Or lit candles?  _ The smaller female wondered, still watching the cottage.  _ And where’s the usual drop-offs? _

_ This is bad,  _ the sleek black and blue male growled, bearing his fangs and beginning to slowly pad down the hill.  _ We need to check it out. _

_ I agree,  _ the red wolf said, close behind.  _ Stick together everyone. _

Silent and vigilant, the six wolves prowled cautiously down the hill and down the recently-swept stone pathway. One of the smaller ones marveled at the lack of dirt coming back up on his paws as they walked. When they reached the front door, the red wolf gave it a careful nudge with his snout. It creaked open, and they all but piled up on top of each other to look inside.

It was spotless. No dirt, no trash. Everything was organized and upright, the dust and webs having miraculously disappeared. Candles around the room cast a warm light, illuminating the living room and kitchen. There was also no sign of any intruders.

_ Wow,  _ the smaller female sighed.  _ I haven’t seen this place clean in… forever. _

_ Do you think we were visited by cleaning fairies?  _ The smallest male asked, suddenly chipper. Four of the five turned to shoot him a look. His ears flattened against his head.  _ What?? _

_ No. _

_ You don’t know that! _

_ Don’t let your guard down,  _ the red wolf said, snarling and completely ignoring the interaction going on behind him. He nosed the door open wider, carefully making his way inside with his pack behind him. All six wolves put their noses down to the floor, sniffing and poking around all over the room. The red wolf, Maria, and the black wolf twisted and turned all around the place, Maria hopping up on the couch and sniffing.

On the other side of the room, the smallest male sniffed his way over to the closet in the corner by the kitchen. The door was open slightly, and he stuck his snout inside. From where he was, he could see a dark purple cloak hanging inside. He froze, looking up at it.

_ Hey… guys? _

The others didn’t hear him, their attention having been grabbed by the black and blue wolf straightening up at the bottom of the staircase.

_ Whoever they are,  _ he said cautiously,  _ they’re upstairs. Right now. _

The remaining five hurried to come stand next to him, all of their ears rigid upright and noses pointing up the staircase.

_ Who do you think it is?  _ Maria asked.  _ Or what? _

_ It’s a human,  _ the small male whispered.  _ They hung their cape thing in the closet. _

Silent, the wolves strained to listen to what was going on up on the landing.

_ I hear someone moving around up there,  _ the red wolf said, glancing back at the group. His mismatched green and blue eyes scanned the five of them, trying to come to a decision of some kind.  _ Well… someone needs to go check it out. _

Everyone stepped back simultaneously, leaving the small male forward. He looked around in frantic confusion.

_ Excellent,  _ the red wolf said, sitting.  _ Go ahead. Scope it out. _

_ What??  _ The small male choked, ear twitching.  _ You want- me?! I can’t- what if- they could be- _

_ Oh come on, you’re a big kid,  _ Maria said, stepping on his tail so that he scurried forward.  _ We’ll be right behind you. _

Trembling, the small male made his way up the first few steps. He turned to look back at them.

_ Right behind you,  _ Maria hissed up at him.

The five of them stayed completely stationary.

The small male slowly turned his head back up to look into the darkness at the top of the stairs. Still shaking in anticipation, he slowly stepped closer to the top.


	4. chapter 4

~

Aphmau’s attention snagged on one book, barely visible in the candlelight provided by the candlestick in her hand.

Printed in cursive gold ink, the title read  _ A Complete Account of Lycanthropy.  _ Most of what she had seen so far had been story books, fairytales. The occasional information guide on woodworking. But this one seemed different, much thicker than the rest and a little showier. She carefully pulled it from the shelf, jerking it away as a spider jumped off it onto the floor. 

She crossed her legs, sitting on the floor and opening the book as the last deer and bird came to join her. She skimmed the pages as the young deer sat against her, the bird landing on her shoulder. The book appeared to be a collection of journal entries, historical and personal accounts that the author had collected. All of it traced the magical creation of werewolves in the world and almost everything there was to know about them. Aphmau found herself extremely fascinated. She’d never actually seen a werewolf, most of them having been believed to have been killed. The queen had hunted any down that she could find in an attempt to wipe them out. Aphmau wondered what the previous owners of the cottage’s connection to them were.

The more she read, the more she discovered. Potentially hundreds of years ago, the first werewolf had been created by a wizard’s curse. The creatures lived in exile for generations until the time of Lady Irene, who had a seemingly divine connection to nature and all that accompanied it. Werewolves, apparently, were included. As long as her magic was alive, the werewolves lived in peace.

But Aphmau knew Lady Irene couldn’t be more than a folk tale in her kingdom. Or at the very least, her fabled “gift” had been invented by the more imaginative people alive after her time. Aphmau had certainly never seen it.

She suddenly had the distinct impression of being watched.

She squinted at the deer next to her, which had curled its head up into itself and was dozing off. The bird tilted its head at her curiously.

Then she saw the bright blue eyes in the dark by the stairs, boring into her.

She felt frozen, her hand hovering over the almost-turned page of the book as she and the wolf on the other side of the room stared at each other. It seemed young, its fur a dull brownish-green. It seemed just as startled as she was, its fur standing on end.

“Hello?” Aphmau offered tentatively, her voice shaking.

Without hesitation, the wolf tripped itself scrambling away. It slid down the stairs out of sight.

Alarmed, Aphmau listened as it crashed into what sounded like more wolves downstairs. There was an uproar of yelping and barking as she jumped up, the book sliding off her lap and landing on the floor with a  _ thunk.  _ The deer and the bird shot to the other room, disappearing into the dark. Feeling quite abandoned and very unsure of her situation, Aphmau backed against the wall with her eyes on the staircase. The commotion continued downstairs, the barking and growling accompanied by scratching and thumping. Finally, three more wolves emerged from the light below, sliding onto the landing and baring their fangs at her.

“Oh sweet queen Sylvanna,” she squeaked, holding her arms protectively in front of her. “Please don’t hurt me.  _ Please _ don’t hurt me.”

The three were joined by three more, and they began to slowly approach her, sniffing. She kept her eyes on them, trying to get a read on what they wanted. Were they hungry? Territorial? Just bloodthirsty?

None of those options seemed especially evident as they slowed to a stop. The one in front, a wolf almost half as big as she was with a dark red pelt and multicolored eyes, tilted its head inquisitively at her. The ones behind him stopped too, seeming interested.

“I’m sorry if I somehow ended up in your t-territory,” Aphmau stuttered. “I didn’t know anyone was around here. Or, any, uh, wolves. I’m sorry. Please don’t attack me.”

But the longer she watched the wolves, the more she realized that they weren’t going to. They turned to one another, growling and yipping in what could only be their own language. From what she could tell, they were close. And they had already been hunting that day, so she couldn’t be their idea of dinner. Not now, anyway.

Something felt very strange about these wolves. But she couldn’t place it.

Carefully, Aphmau lowered her arms and took in the sight of all six of them. There were three larger ones, dark blue, red, and warm brown. The smaller three were light blue, the greenish one from before, and a cooler brown. The larger three seemed protective over the smaller three, like they were older. And the younger three huddled close together as if they were an inseparable trio. They looked quickly back and forth between the older three and Aphmau, waiting for what would happen next.

She decided to take the first step.

“My name is Aphmau,” she said, her voice still cautious. “I just got here today. I’m sort of… hiding.”

The six wolves all turned to look at her sharply, their expressions alarmingly human-like. The black and blue one hurried over to the bookshelf, knocking on one of the books with his paws. When it was loose, he grabbed it with his teeth, pulling it out and dropping it on the floor. They all watched as he pushed it into the candlelight. It was a record of the royal family line.

“Y-yeah,” Aphmau said, raising her eyebrows. “The princess. Princess Aphmau.”

The wolves eyes all nearly bugged out of their skulls, and they twisted around to yip at each other more. The small green one approached her, this time staring in more awe-like wonder than fear. The large red one shoved him out of the way, barking up at her. She blinked, understanding.

“I am hiding from the queen,” she said. “How did you- how could-?”

She watched in appalled amazement as the wolves all split up, running all over the room. Two of them nearly attacked the bookshelves, picking books out and dropping them on the floor. Two more both growled and yipped and barked at her, making deciphering what each of them was saying nearly impossible. The rest seemed to be searching the area, looking for any way to make communication more efficient. 

The dark wolf finally shoved another stack of books in front of her. With a closer look, Aphmau noticed there were a few small silver rings on one of its ears, like piercings. Something about this, combined with the way the wolves were acting and communicating all just seemed so unusual. So non-animal, and at the same time, completely animal.

It suddenly hit her as she looked down at the books. 

The owners of the cottage didn’t have a mysterious connection to werewolves. They  _ were _ werewolves.

She picked up the top book, reading the cover and looking down at the others. They were all books about the legend of Lady Irene. The one on the bottom was a much smaller one, just a list of accounts of her gift being active in the royal family.

It finally clicked in Aphmau’s head. “Oh, no,” she said quickly, shaking her head at the wolf in front of her. “I don’t have any special magic abilities. Things just sort of… escalated back at the palace. People had been saying my mother’s vanity would prove to be dangerous for me eventually. I’m lucky I made it out with my life. She’d ordered to have me killed.”

The dark wolf looked inquisitively between her and the books, as if trying to establish the connection he had originally intended. Aphmau was distracted, however, by one of the younger wolves- the grey-blue female- nosing her sympathetically. She couldn’t help but crack a smile as she rubbed the wolf’s ears. 

“I’m ok now,” she said. “I feel a good deal safer out here. Thank you, uh- what  _ are  _ your names?”

Excited to finally have a question he could answer, another one of the younger ones tugged at her skirt. She followed him into the small bedroom, providing light from her candle. The wolf led her to the closet, where she had found the dusty old clothes earlier. She had noticed the intricate carvings on the doorframe before, but she hadn’t looked very close at them until now. There was a flower pattern, and six names.

“Oh!” she said, her eyes darting around to read them all. “You really- this is  _ really  _ your house?”

The six wolves gathered behind her, some sitting on the ground looking up at the carvings. She wondered if some of them had carved them there themselves, and how that was even possible.

“Um… Dotty?” Aphmau read. The small grey-blue female perked up, barking. She grinned at her. “Hi, Dotty!” Dotty’s tongue rolled out happily.

“Blaze?” she read next, glancing back. The large red one yipped.

“Ryland.” The small brown one.

“Daniel?” The small green one.

“Maria.” The brown-and-blonde one with the sharp-toothed grin.

“Ein.” Finally, the dark blue wolf with the silver eyes. He tilted his head at her with what could be interpreted as a smile.

“And I’m- well, you know me,” Aphmau finished off awkwardly. The wolves all yipped up at her, almost like laughter. Again, Ein shoved the books towards her. She hadn’t even noticed him bring them in in the first place.

“What are you trying to tell me?” Aphmau asked, squinting down at them. “I get that you guys are werewolves. I can tell that much. When my mother was trying to get rid of you all she must have missed you six. Is that it?”

Ein shook his head back and forth, the small pieces of silver shining in his ear. He rose up, planting his paws on the books. Dotty nudged him out of the way, poking her nose into one of the books and pushing it open. She slid her paw across the page a few times, and Aphmau turned it for her. She stared pointedly down at it, so Aphmau read it.

It was all about Lady Irene’s connection to animals, and her ability to bond and communicate with them. Aphmau opened her mouth to explain that this didn’t mean anything, but she faltered, her mind working.

All those years people stared at her when she spoke to the birds in the courtyard. The brief phase when the palace staff actually regularly spoke to her, asking advice on what the queen’s pet cat wanted (it was a very short lived phase, seeing as the queen turned out to have little to no patience for pets). It wasn’t normal. It had  _ never  _ been normal.

Nobody else was friends with the animals because nobody else was in the lineage of Irene.

Aphmau felt her jaw go slack, reading the words over again. “I- I knew Irene was a princess in my kingdom a long time ago,” she said vaguely. “But I always figured that magic stuff was just legend. I had heard before that that’s what my mother’s interest in the throne was. But she wants me gone because she wants to be the fairest in the land, not because she wants any of  _ this _ . I think. Right?”

The wolves all barked over each other, and she flinched. Dotty bounded over to one of the beds, darting underneath and coming back out with something in her mouth. When she dropped it in front of Aphmau, she saw that it was a thin, leather-bound journal. Dotty’s name was embroidered on the cover in sky-blue thread. Intrigued, Aphmau opened it.

Dotty nudged the back of the book, so Aphmau opened to the last entry. It was dated two years ago. It was also written in neat, unmistakably human handwriting.

Aphmau began to read.

_ This might be my last one for a while. _

_ We got word from the pack closer to the village that the palace guard had been getting awfully close lately, and that they were bound to be discovered soon. I hope they’re doing alright. Besides us, I’m pretty sure they’re the last werewolves in the kingdom. Maybe at all. _

_ There’s another word going around, too. It sounds absurd, but some people are saying the queen herself has been out hunting for us. Though she isn’t in the line of Irene, and couldn’t possibly have the gift- even though that’s what she killed the previous king in hopes of obtaining- she’s been said to have been dealing in potions and curses. Maybe she’s got an inside source in a witch’s guild. No one knows for sure. All we ever have to go off of is rumors. But what I’ve been told is that she’s working toward something big- a curse that could affect the whole kingdom come next full moon. They’re saying she’s found a way to curse us to our wolf forms permanently. _

_ I don’t know how- maybe it’s through her access to the princess, who surely carries Irene’s gift. I can only hope it’s just a rumor and nothing else. The thing is… the next full moon is tomorrow. So either we transform back after… or we don’t. _

_ I’m sure her intentions are to make our lives miserable, to take away our one connection to humanity we have. It’s how we’re able to blend in with the villagers, hiding our ears and tails when we can. That won’t be possible anymore after this. We won’t be able to hide. _

_ I wish the rightful queen would get crowned already. Long live Aphmau. Queen Sylvanna is a total meanie!!!!!! _

_ Til next time. Dotty _

Aphmau scanned the entry one more time, absorbing every word. She finally looked up, looking at each wolf in turn.

“You guys are  _ cursed?” _

Daniel whimpered, sitting down and laying his chin on the ground. Ryland laid his head on top of Daniel’s.

“I’ve never seen werewolves before today,” Aphmau said, sliding the journal back to Dotty. “I guess this means you have human forms as well? That you used to be able to transform into?”

Blaze bobbed his head up and down in confirmation. For some reason, the only question that had formed in Aphmau’s head was completely unrelated to the curse, the queen, or anything about the full moon. She looked around the room, frowning.

“Why are there only five beds?”

The wolves split up, bounding across the room and hopping up into the sheets. Dotty and Maria both sat down on one, while Ryland and Daniel sat on another. Ein stood on one by himself, and Blaze did the same on the one across from it.

“Ohh,” Aphmau said, looking around. “You share. I get it.” Then her gaze fell on the empty one in the corner. “But there’s an extra.”

The wolves all looked at each other, sniffing and exchanging soft yips. They looked at Aphmau, tilting their heads and concentrating.

She squinted, trying to decipher their confusion. “Is there… a seventh?”

They continued to send mixed signals, barking over each other and nodding and shaking their heads simultaneously. Ryland did a strange thing where he stood on his hind legs and walked around for a moment before losing balance. Blaze buried his face in the sheets.

“There is, and there isn’t?” Aphmau tried. Ein gave her something like a nod, and she figured that was the best it was going to get. Maybe there was another one, but they only lived there sometimes. She didn’t see a seventh name carved in the doorframe, though, so she decided to leave it be.

She sorted through her thoughts, and came to another conclusion.

“Is it… ok? That I stay here with you guys?” she asked, looking around at all the bright wolf eyes watching her. “I don’t… really know that I have anywhere else to go.”

Blaze hopped off his bed, approaching her and giving her a short yip. Dotty followed close behind him, snuggling up against Aphmau’s side and nosing her arm.

Once again, they weren’t speaking the same language. But the message was clear.

“Thank you,” Aphmau said, reaching out to rub them both on their heads. “You’re saving my life by doing this.”

All six of the wolves broke out in growls and barks and yips, again giving the impression of talking over each other. Aphmau figured if they really could speak english, this would be a very chatty group. From what she could tell, though, they seemed happy to help. Dotty had said it herself in her journal. They saw her as the rightful queen.

Contemplating this, Aphmau suddenly felt an instinct arise somewhere inside of her. She felt a distinct urge to prove herself to these werewolves.

Dusting herself off, Aphmau stood up as the wolves all came to stand around her. “Are you guys hungry?”

They looked at each other sharply, then all turned around to look at Blaze. His ears flattened against his head in what seemed to be embarrassment. The wolves then turned to bark back up at Aphmau in confirmation.

“Ok!” she said, clapping her hands together. “How about I cook dinner?”

The wolves went absolutely beserk. They broke out into excited barking, running around each other and hopping up and down all over the beds. As Aphmau watched them, giggling, she felt her stomach sink a little.

She did not know a thing about cooking.

Working around the palace, she’d always been busy with cleaning and laundry and polishing the things they used in the kitchen- she had never actually  _ used  _ them. She’d seen the cooks work plenty of times, though, and there was bound to be some knowledge in the back of her mind she could pull from. Probably.

The wolves following close behind, Aphmau made her way back down the stairs and into the kitchen. She opened all the cabinets, searching for whatever ingredients they had. There wasn’t much more than what she’d found before, though. She set everything out on the counter, looking over it all.

“It’s not much,” she mumbled, holding a finger to her lip as she thought. She looked down when she felt something tugging at her skirt, seeing that Ryland was trying to get her attention. He spun around, darting back into the propped open closet. Together, he and Dotty dragged out a large sack emitting a strange smell. 

Suspicious, Aphmau leaned down and opened it. Her mouth fell open.

“Is all this  _ meat _ ?”

The wolves yipped happily, running around her as she searched around inside the bag. It wasn’t especially clean looking, but it was definitely fresh. Blaze sauntered up next to her, looking proud of himself. He barked.

“Oh, it was mostly you, was it?” Aphmau laughed, raising an eyebrow. “I certainly hope it was also within the past week or so.”

He shot her an offended look, as if to say  _ no duh. _

“Ok, well,” Aphmau started, picking up the sack and bringing it over to the counter. “This, with what we have, and the berries and bread… I figure we can get a good stew going. Sound good?”

The wolves continued to romp around in excitement. From what she could tell, it was going to be their first full meal in years.

The nagging sense of anxiety tugged at her brain again. Surely she could make it good for them. Surely.

She dismissed the uncertainty and turned to the sink, hoisting out the big black pot that she had washed earlier in the day and bringing it over to the fire. She set it down in front of the old firewood, looking at it.

“I guess… we fill it with water?”

Before she could even finish the sentence, Daniel, Dotty, and Ryland had hurried over to the sink and were taking turns filling up buckets of water. They dragged them one by one across the floor, dropping them in front of her before turning and scrambling back to get more. Aphmau grinned, pouring the water into the pot. 

Once that was done, she turned back to the ingredients and put together a mental checklist. Cook the meat. Put it in. Chop up other ingredients. Toast bread?

The “other ingredients,” as far as she could tell, were just berries, potatoes, and some thin plants she assumed were either a vegetable of some kind or seasoning. She grimaced, desperately trying to convince herself that this would create an edible meal.

“I think we can boil the meat in the stew to cook it,” she said, turning to look back at the unlit fireplace. “Anyone know how to make a fire?”

Blaze and Maria both spoke up, barking and racing over to the fireplace. Blaze began to nudge the smaller sticks, as if trying to pick them up somehow. Maria, however, took two small sharp rocks from the hearth and dropped them in front of Aphmau. Blaze froze where he was and stared at them as if he’d never seen them before. 

“Oh!” Aphmau said, picking them up. “Flint?”

Maria yipped proudly. She then turned and shot Blaze an unmistakably smug look. He dog-huffed at her.

After some experimenting, and a good deal of input from the wolves, Aphmau was finally able to create a tiny spark and fan it into a soft orange glow. Dotty, Ryland, and Daniel all surrounded it, blowing on it repetitively. It seemed to be working, at least a little. When Aphmau returned to it with the chopped meat, it had grown into a flame.

The next few steps seemed easy enough. Stir the meat and sort-of-broth. Chop up vegetables. Boil it all together. When does it count as done? She had no way to know. She just hoped she’d be able to tell when the time came.

After dunking the chopped potatoes and small green slivers into the now-boiling mixture, Aphmau turned back to the basket of berries on the counter. She wrinkled her nose. Did berries go in stew? It seemed more or less normal to her, but the longer she pictured it the less sense it made.

Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the wolves. A couple of them were rolling around on the rug play-fighting while the others watched. Ein appeared to be sitting in front of an open book, reading it.

Before any of them could notice, she quickly snatched a couple handfuls of berries and dropped them in. Ingredients were limited and she was just going to have to use what they had.

While the stew was stewing, she turned her attention to the bread. It would probably be fine as it was, but she once again felt like she had to go above and beyond. She’d had warm toasted bread at the palace before, and toasting them couldn’t be that hard. There was literally an open flame on the other side of the room. 

She carried the bread over to the fireplace, and the wolves watched with interest as she picked up one of the blackened metal tools with prongs. She was overly aware of the six pairs of eyes on her. Carefully, she lifted one of the slices with the prongs and held it over the fire. Within seconds the entire thing was in flames.

Gasping, Aphmau yanked it out of the fireplace and blew on it. In her panic, she dropped it back into the bread basket. She continued to blow on it, the wolves gathering around to frantically do the same. Soon the entire basket was in flames, and Aphmau had to shoot backwards before her eyebrows were singed off. Ein dragged a large wool blanket over and dropped it on top of the flaming basket, hopping around on it.

That seemed to do the trick. Cautiously, Aphmau pulled the blanket off to check the basket. The fire was gone, but the bread was good and burnt.

“Well that’s one way to toast it,” she muttered. Dotty gave one slice a little lick, then yipped at her.

“You’re  _ sure  _ you’d still eat that?” Aphmau asked, raising an eyebrow. The wolves all bobbed their heads like nodding. She straightened up, picking the singed basket off the floor. “Alright. If you say so.”

The wolves seemed to monitor her cooking a little more closely after that, darting around at her feet and snapping up little drops that came out of the boiling pot. After the sun had set, they seemed to become a little more impatient. Dotty had to actually knock Daniel away from his attempt to jump over the fire into the stew pot.

Aphmau bit her lip, looking from the dark outside to the “stew” in the pot. It had been cooking for well over an hour and it still didn’t look like anything she’d ever eaten before. The water had shifted into a greenish-brown color, which was probably good, but it was still quite watery. The potatoes were beginning to mush together at the bottom of the pot and the smell of the berries combined with the boiled meat was very unusual.

But she realized that it probably wasn’t going to get any better than it already was. So she carefully took the pot off the flames and set it down on the counter, ladling it into wooden bowls. The wolves all tripped and jumped over each other, their tongues sticking out as she dropped the steaming watery substance into the bowls. She set the bowls one by one at the table, counting out seven. She then put the basket of burnt bread in the center along with a pitcher of water and what was left of the berries.

She stood back, admiring her work.

It was pitiful.

She felt the sinking feeling in her stomach return as the wolves all gathered behind her, waiting for her word to dig in. She had wanted so bad to show them she knew what she was doing. She was just as talented and amazing as they seemed to think she was.

But she wasn’t.

“I guess you can eat whatever seems salvageable,” she sighed, crossing her arms. “I really appreciate all the help you guys gave me. Maybe if you had been helping someone a little more competent this meal would be… I dunno. Nicer.”

The wolves just about tripped over each other again in their rush to the table, some of them squeezing into the same chair. Aphmau watched in surprise as they lapped up the stew and went absolutely feral on the bread and berries. Still watching them gulp it all down, she came to sit with them at the table. Dotty, who was closest, paused in her attack on her stew bowl to glance at her.

“Are your standards really that low?” Aphmau said in soft amazement, staring around at the wolves.

Dotty seemed almost confused. Blaze and Maria stopped too, Blaze’s snout covered in crumbs and bits of potato. They offered her a few quick barks before returning to their food.

The sinking feeling was replaced by something much warmer. They didn’t care if the food was bad. They were just happy she’d put in all the effort.

It didn’t seem possible that they could be so unconditionally appreciative, but before she even realized it, almost all the food was gone. She had to hurry to snatch the least charred slice of bread- which they appeared to have left for her- and a few blackberries. Somehow, some way, these werewolves were  _ proud  _ of her. They had only known her for less than a day and they had already come to enjoy having her around, even if she had so little to offer.

It just seemed so astonishing.

She also discovered that the bread dipped in the stew actually vastly improved both items. Together, the seven of them finished off the meal while carrying on a bizarre half-dog-half-human conversation along the way. In all her life, Aphmau never imagined she’d be where she was, or that when she was lost far into the woods that she would make friends.

But somehow, it was certain that she had bonded more with these six wolves in the past few hours than she had with a good number of the humans she’d known before in her entire life.


	5. chapter 5

~

Queen Sylvanna was having a lovely night.

She lounged without much grace on her velvet sofa in her quarters, trying on different pairs of hoop earrings and checking her reflection in her gold handheld mirror, clothed in a sparkling black and magenta robe. She laughed airily as she poked a particularly bejeweled pair of earrings, the rubies and emeralds on them weighing enough to tug her earlobe down slightly. 

“I got these ones from a wedding several years ago,” she said aloud, still watching them twinkle in the mirror. “Believe it or not, they were a gift from the groom! I have no idea honestly if all the other guests received gifts as valuable and lavish as I did. I like to think that young prince had taken a liking to me.”

She put the mirror down, picking up the ornate wooden box that had been sitting next to her on the sofa. “Luckily, I’ve always been faithful. Not like your father, right dear?”

She burst into cackling, putting the box down on the bed and doubling over. When she straightened back up, catching her breath, her gaze fell on the larger mirror on the opposite wall.

“He sure was gorgeous though,” she muttered under her breath as she crossed the room, approaching it.

At her arrival, the strange hazy mist began to rise and swirl again in the reflection. Sylvanna placed a hand on her hip, using the other to play with one of her earrings.

“Mirror mirror on the wall,” she said dramatically, feeling especially theatrical. “ _ Whom  _ is the fairest of them all?”

She smirked at her rhyme as the mask-like face from before appeared once again, regarding her.

“Though your beauty is as radiant as ever,” the face said, tilting slightly, “The Princess Aphmau’s beauty is still greater.”

The smirk slipped off the queen’s face, and she squinted at the mirror. “Did I break you or something?” she shot. “The princess is dead.”

“She remains alive despite your efforts, in a cottage deep in the woods in the presence of wolves,” the mirror boomed. “Hiding with the knowledge that you ordered to have her murdered.”

Queen Sylvanna felt her blood run through her veins like ice. She spun around, snatching the box off the sofa and thrust it in front of the mirror. “Of course she’s dead, she has to be, I have proof!” she said quickly. “This is her heart! I had my huntsman carve it out and put it in here to return to me when the deed was done! I assure you it’s quite graphic, it has to be hers. She’s dead.”

“The heart inside that box belongs to a pig,” the mirror said, unblinking. Sylvanna stood still as a statue, hardly daring to process it.

It finally got through to her what had happened.

“No,” she breathed, looking down at the box. “A pig…? Aphmau… but… the  _ huntsman-  _ I ordered- he PROMISED-!”

“He is long gone,” the mirror continued. “Upon delivering what he claimed to be the freshly-dead heart of the princess, he packed what he had and got as far from the palace as he could. His treason saved the young princess’s life.”

Queen Sylvanna stared at the floor, chest heaving. A million thoughts were running through her mind, and she slowly shook her head. She knew she had to act. And she had to act sooner rather than later. That girl would be able to put the puzzle pieces together for sure by now. And if word got out what the Queen was truly after… things could get very dangerous.

And wolves. She was with  _ wolves.  _ That could only mean one thing.

Act fast. She had to act fast.

Hastily, she pulled the thick chord hanging from the ceiling to let the curtains fall back over the wall. Hardly even bothering to shut the door behind her, she whisked out of the room, flying down the corridor towards the spiral staircase at the end. Much to her satisfaction, there weren’t many servants around so late at night. The only person she came across on her descent was a thin laundry girl, who nearly dropped her stack of folded sheets when Sylvanna blew past her. The girl’s stuttering apologies echoed after her as she continued down another, slightly darker hallway.

Before much longer, she had reached the bottom of the south tower, and she pushed the door open and entered her personal garden. Sylvanna never came to this garden to look at the flowers. She came for what was underneath.

She approached the plant-covered arch in the center, looking down at the stone platform it stood on. In the middle of the stones was a wooden trap door that might have led to a sewer system or perhaps a special tunnel system for the palace staff. It was, of course, neither of these things.

Sylvanna lifted the door, climbing down the old ladder and closing the door behind her. She continued to climb down, her path lit only by dim lanterns.

She finally reached the bottom. She took in her surroundings, taking a deep breath as well. She smiled. “Hello again, my babies,” she said.

The whole area was set up with tools, cauldrons, candles, and shelves of books and ingredients. Boxes lined some of the shelves, unusual and unidentifiable objects barely visible within. Some small cauldrons already contained bubbling substances, casting brightly colored smoke into the air. Sylvanna swept across the room, carefully scanning the books.

“She’d never trust me now,” she muttered, running her finger along the spines. “Going to need a disguise. Become  _ someone else…” _

She paused momentarily on a thick purple volume titled  _ The Gift of Lady Irene.  _ “Oh, you’ll be mine soon enough,” she whispered, continuing in her search. She gasped happily when she found what she was looking for, and she pulled the green leather book off the shelf. Written across the front in bloodred ink was  _ Disguises. _

She laid the book down on the table, flipping through it with one hand and pulling out a long glass vial with the other. “Gonna take a real ugly one to counteract all  _ I  _ got…” she mumbled to herself, her eyes darting across the pages as she turned them. She finally stopped on one, smoothing it out. Across the top, the recipe was labeled  _ Peddler’s Disguise. _

“Perfect,” she whispered, the smug smile returning to her face.

She got to work immediately, hurrying around the room and adding pieces of the recipe from her collection. People had wondered for years how it was she was able to access spells, curses, enchantments. She didn’t have a drop of magical blood in her body. The key was knowing how to  _ get _ them. Like ordering raids on witches’ covens, or, say, marrying into a known magical bloodline for more than just attraction.

Sylvanna took a tall glass chalice, filling it with a clear liquid from one of the cauldrons. She turned back to the recipe book. The ingredients were all very mystical-sounding, but she had access to everything. She added a few drops of mummy dust brew. A rich black substance with properties unknown to many. Two vials, one containing the essence of a scream of terror and the other containing the liquified cackles of an old woman. That one had been especially hard to create, but she was incredibly thankful that she had.

She held the chalice up to the light, watching the colors swirl around. There was just one step left. 

She’d been seeing clouds swirling around recently, and prayed it meant what it sounded like it did. She held the cup under a long metal rod, the top end of the rod going up into the ceiling. Above ground, it would be hidden among the trees- but prevalent enough to attract lightning.

“Come on, come on, come on,” the queen whispered, listening to the sound of the beginning of the rain above her.

Finally, there was a spark and a crash of thunder above. The spark spun down the rod, striking the contents of the cup and causing them to glow too bright to look directly at. Sylvanna shielded her eyes, crying out in both mild pain and victory.

When the light faded, she looked at the finished product. It was now an electric green, and a much thicker substance than before. She stared at her reflection in the glass, getting one last look at it before she committed to her plan.

“I’ll be back, I promise,” she assured herself. “But it’s time to begin the transformation.”

Before she could talk herself out of it, she downed the contents of the chalice.

Once she’d swallowed the last gulp, she stood there for a moment feeling the slimy liquid bubbling in her stomach. Then she dropped the chalice, doubling over. A whirlwind of colors seemed to overtake her vision, bright and pulsing. Her body felt like it was being compressed, skin stretching, throat constricting. Maybe there were huge gusts of wind blowing around the room, maybe it was just her imagination. But her robes seemed to be moving around her, invisible forces pushing her around.

She felt her hair grow out past her elbows, losing its darkness and volume and shifting into a dry grey. She watched her hands shrink in on themselves, spots appearing and nails growing into talons. Her clothes were changing as well. They seemed to melt together, creating a solid black cloak that hung raggedly on her now hunched posture.

The lights faded, and she collapsed onto the ground.

When she weakly pulled herself to her feet, she saw her reflection in a glass bottle. Her face was framed with wrinkles, her eyes bulging strangely in her skull. She even appeared to be missing a few teeth.

She had succeeded.

She admired her work, looking herself over. It was a somewhat gruesome sight, but it certainly served its purpose well. Nobody could possibly recognize her. It would easily fool Aphmau  _ and  _ whatever werewolves she was staying with.

There was just one more thing to prepare.

Hobbling over to the bookshelves, the newly hag-ified queen quickly reached up and took down another leatherbound book labelled  _ spells.  _ Possessed with a sudden sense of irony, she began searching through the poison section. Poison was something she’d had experience in. Poison was what had sadly killed the king shortly after the birth of his daughter.

She stopped, coming to the perfect thing. It was a recipe for the apple of sleeping death.

“It’s perfect!” the queen croaked, her own voice taking her slightly by surprise. She hungrily read the words and stroked the picture of the apple, complete with a dripping skull covering the fruit. 

“I’ll get you, princess,” she whispered. “I’ll get you just like I got my husband. Then you’ll  _ both  _ be sorry.”

~

Back at the cottage, Aphmau was discovering the wonders of a self-playing piano.

She thought she’d heard about something like it before- there might have been one somewhere in the palace- but she didn’t know how it worked. As it would turn out, the wooden baby grand piano she had dusted off earlier that day with the strange knobs and levers was capable of such a thing. A crank here and a tap there, and it was plunking out a slightly off-tune song as if a person were playing it. 

It could only play one song, but it was still kind of incredible.

The energy in the living room could not have been more different from the first time Aphmau found it. With the fire still crackling in the fireplace, the piano alive with music, and six werewolves to keep her company, she was having a surprisingly good time.

She was also learning more about her new friends. In the past chunk of time since they had finished eating and had a chance to just hang out together, Aphmau had learned that Blaze was quite the adrenaline junkie. When he got excited enough, he would climb up on top of things, then make sure she (or anyone else) was watching when he jumped off in an attempt to either break what he was landing on or do a flip. Which was sort of hard to accomplish because he was a dog.

Most recently, though, he had become determined to somehow dance with Aphmau to the tune the piano was playing. Laughing breathlessly, Aphmau stumbled back and forth in an attempt to catch him whenever he’d jump up onto his hindlegs, rising almost to her full height. At one point he finally landed his paws on her shoulders, and they were able to sort of spin around like that for a minute, the other wolves standing on furniture and barking excitedly. Blaze lost his balance before long, though, and he tumbled onto the couch while Aphmau bent over, laughing too hard to catch her breath.

Blaze regained his composure immediately, shaking his head and hopping onto the floor. He sauntered across the room, approaching where Dotty and Maria were sitting in a chair. He bowed his head to Dotty, bending one of his front legs. Dotty looked a bit stunned, blinking at him. Then, her face splitting into a dog-like grin, she hopped down from the chair to join him.

The two of them circled each other on the center of the floor for a moment, getting a feel for the rhythm. Blaze took the lead, doing a strange little hopping motion that could be interpreted as dancing. Dotty copied his movements, and soon they were bounding around in a wolf partner dance.

Aphmau, whose attention was so entirely caught up with this, almost didn’t notice what Ryland and Daniel were doing in the background. They seemed to be bark-laughing at the two dancing in the center, trying to hold in their laughter. Ryland nudged Daniel, then slid his head under a blue rag that was roughly the same color as Dotty’s fur. He paraded around for a moment in what could only have been an imitation of her. Daniel, rubbing his head on the floor so that his fur was messy like Blaze’s, grabbed a flower off the table with his mouth and offered it dramatically to Ryland. Ryland, pretending to be overjoyed, took the flower, and the two of them sprung into a ridiculous over-the-top imitation of Dotty and Blaze’s dance.

Blaze noticed them, and stopped in his tracks to snap at them. The two werewolf boys tumbled over, rolling around on the floor and letting out doggish cackles.

Aphmau covered her mouth, trying to stifle her own laughter. From what she had seen so far, their teasing wasn’t totally uncalled for. Every time Blaze had done something showy or dangerous, he had always made a huge fuss to make sure Dotty was watching.

The crank on the piano slowly quivered to a stop, and the song it was playing ended. Just like every time before, the last note was still being held down as if by an invisible finger.

Aphmau had tried to ask before how it worked, but she learned pretty quickly that wolves do not know how to explain mechanics. Not in a way that made sense, at least. The best she could get from their attempts to explain over each other was that it was a gift from someone.

Blaze dipped his head again, bowing to Dotty. She bolted away, hopping up back into the chair and burying her snout in Maria’s fur.

“I guess I can add that to my list of things I’ve done today I never thought I’d do,” Aphmau said, sitting back on the sofa. “I danced with a werewolf. What do you guys want to do now? It’s pretty late.”

The six of them sat in silence for a moment, contemplating. Ein tilted his head in the direction of the stairs, looking tired and most likely thinking about going to bed. Aphmau was just about to suggest that herself when Daniel suddenly stood, yipping at her.

“You want… me to tell a story?” Aphmau translated. This grabbed everyone’s attention. Their eyes all snapped to her, their ears upright. She felt very on the spot. “About… what?”

Daniel hopped down onto the rug, Dotty and Ryland following him. The three of them sat down, and Maria and Blaze came to join them. Ein finally got up from his spot and sat in the back. They all made themselves quite comfortable, and looked at her with expressions that clearly meant that they would listen to anything she had to say.

She thought hard. What kind of stories did she have?

For some reason, one theme in particular kept crossing her mind. She took a deep breath, sorting through her thoughts.

“Ok…” she began. “There once was a lonely princess. She lived in this great big castle hidden out in the woods, far away from the rest of the kingdom. She spent most of her time doing maid duties, cleaning, washing, stuff like that. She never really had time to make friends. She didn’t even have any family to rely on.”

Ryland lifted his head, barking. Aphmau rolled her eyes. “Yes, the princess is me.”

Satisfied, Ryland laid his head back down. Aphmau continued.

“She… or I guess, I… one day started getting visits from this guy. He was just some worker for the queen, only around every week or so. At first I thought he was an intruder of some kind. I caught him trying to steal a bucket from our supply closet. When I ran to go tell the supervisor, he explained who he was. He also explained who  _ I  _ was. The boy harassed me for  _ weeks  _ for that one. He made a point to always come find me before he did anything else, loudly announcing that he was there so I ‘wouldn’t be startled.’ I think he just genuinely enjoyed embarrassing me.

“Pretty soon that turned into a habit of his, whether he remembered that day or not. There was never a day at that palace when he would be there that he wouldn’t come find me wherever I was. He always had something snarky to say, whether it was, just, making fun of my dress or the song he caught me singing or whatever. There was this one day it was quite cold outside and it was just starting to flurry. I was in a huge hurry to get inside with the potatoes I had been harvesting from the garden, and I ran smack into him. Usually he’d help me pick them up- you know, in a mocking sort of way- but I think he was in a worse mood than usual because all he said to me was ‘if you weren’t as brainless as these things are you’d watch where you were going more often.’ Course, after that he took to calling me potato themed nicknames. I think that made him feel better.”

The wolves were listening with rapt attention, seeming to be very interested in Aphmau’s tale. Daniel’s tongue was hanging out of his mouth unconsciously. 

“There was this day, though, when I was thirteen, that I had dinner with my mother for the first time in years,” she went on. “It was  _ very  _ rare that she wanted to see me. And she seemed… nice? Almost… overdone, if that makes sense. Like she was pretending to like me. We talked a little bit about what I do around the castle, and I mentioned my closest friends were probably the birds. She didn’t like that at all. She said some sort of insulting things and dismissed me. I  _ really _ didn’t know what to do with myself then. I went and hid in the orchards and cried. I don’t know how the boy found me, but he did. He was the LAST person I wanted to see. I felt so useless.

“But he didn’t make it worse. He didn’t add any insults. He just handed me a fruit tart and left.”

Aphmau stared into the fire, remembering all her interactions with Aaron. “He never brought that night up after that. We went right on like we always had. But he developed this  _ other  _ habit. After bothering me and distracting me from my chores for hours, he’d always throw in some insinuation that he cared. Like, asking how I’d been doing that week. Or if my apron was new. Or what a song was called. It always felt so  _ sarcastic _ , though, I could never take it seriously. I guess… well, I guess in retrospect he didn’t sound  _ that  _ sarcastic. I just sort of interpreted it that way.”

She had to pause, gathering her thoughts. For some reason, the longer she spoke, the more her memories of those days seemed to change. Especially in the light of what he had done for her in the meadow.

“He was really the closest thing I had to a real human friend,” she decided, pulling her knees to her chest. “On some of my worst days I would come away from talking to him feeling a little better. Whether I realized it or not. He’s… he’s actually the reason I’m still alive. He helped me escape into the woods when the queen was going to have me killed.”

Ryland tilted his head, softly yipping.

“Yeah,” Aphmau sighed, resting her chin on her knees. “Yeah, I guess that does mean he cared.”

The quiet crackling of the dying fire filled the air as the wolves contemplated Aphmau’s story. Ein raised his head, squinting his grey eyes. He finally tilted his head at her, asking a sort of question.

“I don’t know where he is now,” she answered. “The last I saw of him was when I was running away into the forest. I can only hope he’s safe and away from the queen now, wherever he is. I have no idea if I’ll ever see him again.”

Ein laid his head back down, looking at the floor. Aphmau’s gaze drifted to the dark sky outside the window. She found herself hoping and praying hard that Aaron was safe and had the sense to get far, far away from the palace. 

Aphmau suddenly heard what sounded like a dog snore. She jumped slightly, glancing down at the pack on the floor. Maria had slid onto her side, and was dead asleep. Blaze whined, nosing her with his snout. She didn’t budge. She also appeared to be on his tail.

“I kinda think she’s got the right idea,” Aphmau whispered, fully realizing that the sensation of gravity being increased tenfold on her was exhaustion. Her last night’s sleep had been on the ground in the woods. And she had spent the whole day very busy. “You guys ok if I take the extra bed?”

Nobody offered any objections as they all rose, heading for the staircase. When Blaze couldn’t get Maria off his tail, Aphmau doubled back to pick her up, carrying her up the stairs. The little pack followed her as she went, Maria snoring in her arms.

~

Miles away, back in the secret chamber under the garden, Queen Sylvanna was adding the finishing touches to the Sleeping Death brew.

She poured in a vial with one hand and continuously stirred the cauldron with the other, watching the dark concoction bubble. Excited with the finished product, she hobbled over to a basket on the edge of the table and selected the biggest, shiniest red apple sitting on top. Dangling it by the stem, she slowly lowered it into the brew. She watched it soak there for a moment, an undeniably maniacal glint in her eye.

When she pulled it back out, the dark thick liquid dripped from it and sizzled. It bubbled on the surface of the apple for a moment, and before her eyes, it smoothed over into a bright, shining red skin just like any other apple. If anything, it even appeared to be higher quality than usual.

“It’s perfect,” Sylvanna whispered, her voice still that of an old hag. “All it takes is one bite. One bite, and she’s as good as dead. All my problems, poof, solved. I can deal with the dogs later. I am restored as the indisputable fairest in the land, and Irene’s gift… well, it has to go to the last surviving member of the royal family, doesn’t it?”

Sylvanna burst into high-pitched cackles, dancing around the room and holding the apple up so that it glowed in the firelight. On a particularly shriek-ish laugh, she paused, eyes widening at the floor. 

“Oh no girl, that is not cute,” she mumbled to herself, shaking her head and moving back towards the basket of apples. “I’m only keeping this disguise up for as long as I need it, not a  _ second  _ longer. Sheesh.”

She went right back to giggling to herself, though, as she lovingly placed the poison apple back on top of the stack of other apples in the basket. She placed the basket on her arm, pulling the hood over her head and heading back towards the exit. “Should have done this  _ years  _ ago. Course, I’ve never actually had a good cover before. Can’t just kill your daughter where everyone can see it, haha. Got to be sneakier than that.”

She paused at the ladder for a moment, turning back to the open book at a distance. She thought for a moment.

“Still, can’t be too careful,” she muttered, hurrying back over to look at the page. “Can’t overlook a thing.”

She turned the page, reading the back.

“The curse of sleeping death can be revived by only one thing,” she read aloud, squinting. “ _ Love’s first kiss. _ ”

She mouthed the last three words again, contemplating this. She then seemed to come to a conclusion, guffawing aloud as she swept back towards the exit ladder. “Hah! Doesn’t even matter! Those darn fleabags will think she’s dead! They’ll bury her alive! They’ll be doing my job for me!”

Elated by this thought, the hag queen hurried up the ladder, taking with her the basket of apples containing one imposter.  Red sus. On the way out, she grabbed a silver-tipped cane, sliding it into her cloak as she exited.

~

In a village near the outskirts of the forest, a figure on horseback trotted through the mostly deserted marketplace with a black hood pulled over his head and a red sash tied over his eyes.

The rider caught the attention of one old man who was working at closing up his vegetable stand. “Aaron?” he called out, straining his eyes against the dim light provided by the torches along the path. “What are you doing out here so late?”

Aaron slowed, pulling back the reins on his horse. He glanced back at the market vendor. “I should ask you the same thing.”

The vendor shrugged, hoisting a bag of vegetables over his shoulder. “Had to wait on a fellow to come pick up an order. He certainly took his time. I’ve got to get going or my wife’ll be awfully curious what I’ve gotten up to. Can’t have a repeat of last summer.”

“Can’t have that,” Aaron muttered under his breath having no idea what he was referring to.

“You got business somewhere?” the vendor asked, guestering to the horse and all the supplies. “Or are you leaving town? I haven’t seen you around lately at all. Did you just get here?”

“I’m on my way out,” Aaron replied, looking down towards the end of the market street. The only signs of movement were the moving tree branches and a few loose chickens. “Sorry I couldn’t stay for longer. I’ve been trying to do more moving at night.”

“Whatever for?”

Aaron knit his eyebrows, looking down at the horse’s mane in front of him. There wasn’t an easy way to explain the exact situation he was in.

“I’m looking for someone,” he decided, lowering his voice down to more of a soft mutter. “It would be… better if less people knew about it. Or… specific people. I’m hoping to find this person before someone else does.”

The vendor cocked his head with a raised eyebrow, trying to follow Aaron’s explanation. “That’s a bit vague.”

“I know,” Aaron said. “Sorry. I can’t give you much more than that. But what I’m looking for isn’t here. So I have to keep moving.”

“Alright,” the vendor shrugged, closing the gate to his booth behind him. “Should I be worried you’re up to anything illegal?”

Aaron didn’t answer, allowing the old man to get a good laugh in at his own joke. He found silence was a good solution in a lot of situations.

“I will ask that you maybe don’t go spreading that you saw me here,” Aaron finally said when the man looked back up at him. “Or… what I’m doing. I would appreciate your discretion.”

“Oh, sure,” the vendor said, waving his hand dismissively. “Nobody listens to me anyway. Hope you find whoever you’re looking for.”

Aaron tugged on the reins again, and he rode the horse in a swift trot down the pathway away from the marketplace. The cobblestone streets were mostly empty, nobody around to see him moving silently towards the back entrance to the village. He went through the wooden archway, glancing at the closed down vendor stands. He gave his horse a little kick, and they began to gallop down the dirt path towards the forest. 

This was not the first village Aaron had checked. He had spent almost 24 hours riding in secrecy to the closest villages to the woods, with considerable distance from the palace. He had not hesitated from the second he walked away from handing off the box containing a pig’s heart to the queen. Wherever Aphmau was, she must have been hidden well.

Aaron frowned to himself as he entered the treeline, darkness swallowing everything around him. He knew she had never been so far into the woods before. He only assumed her first reaction would have been to find a village and take refuge there, but so far all three he had visited hadn’t seen any well-dressed lost young girls wander through. Certainly not the princess. He had thoroughly looked, himself, just to be sure. There was no sign of her.

It hadn’t been nearly long enough for her to get any further than that. So the only conclusion he could come to was that she was still in the woods.

He had considerable confidence that she could take care of herself. And if she couldn’t, the animals could. But he still worried.

He let out a short, tired sigh as he rode his horse through a beaten path through the trees. It was possible if he  _ did  _ find her, she wouldn’t want his help. But he was still going to do all he could to ensure her safety. It was amazing to think how his view of this girl had changed in the amount of time he’d known her. As far as he could tell at the start, she was just another ditzy big-headed royal. He quickly learned that the situation was quite different from his original perception.

The princess was unconditionally friendly, perseverant, and nothing short of a light in the dark. And all of this while still being forced by her own mother to work as a servant and essentially deny all relation to her. And though it was still fun to get a reaction out of her- which was too easy- he knew she would never do anything to harm anyone.

He couldn’t have been more glad her mother’s beauty was the only thing that ran in the family.

He had also been contemplating what he was going to do if- no, when- he found her. Surely neither of them could ever go back to the palace. They’d be fugitives. So… what? Run away together?

Would she want that?

An idea slowly occurred to him as he rode. There was one place he could go. Maybe not for a solution, but for help at the very least. It may even help with the… other aspect of his complicated situation.

Deciding on a new destination, Aaron veered his horse off the well-worn trail through the woods and began to make his way through the trees. He figured it’d be about a day’s journey. He’d been this way before, but this time it was with renewed purpose. 

He would find Aphmau.

He would explain everything.

And he had a cottage to find.


	6. chapter 6

~

When the sun rose the next morning, it barely peeked through a thick layer of clouds. They traveled across the sky in different shades of grey, casting a hazy sort of shadow over the cottage in the clearing and promising of rain later in the day. Aphmau looked up at it as she held the door open, the six werewolves coming outside and sniffing the air.

“Be careful out there,” she said, feeling the already humid morning breeze. “The weather might take a turn.”

Blaze and Maria both turned around to bark back at her. She held her hands up defensively. 

“I’ll be careful too!” she said. “But I’m the one staying inside this nice and dry house. You guys are the ones out hunting.”

Blaze whined, shaking his head around. Aphmau let her hands fall. “Oh. You mean about the queen.”

The others paused to turn and glance back at her. The brewing storm in the air created a certain amount of tension, and it hung heavy around them. Aphmau looked uneasily into the woods, where the only things she could see were the limbs of the trees and the occasional bird flitting quickly to their hidden nests. 

“This place is nearly impossible to find,” she finally decided, bending down on her knees to scratch Blaze’s ear. “And I know what the royal guard looks like. I won’t answer the door for anyone. And I’ll stay out of sight.”

Blaze gave her a little lick on the hand, and she once again caught herself wondering if that was a doggish instinct taking over or if licking was just normal for werewolves. She shook away the intrusive thought as she stood to wave goodbye, watching the wolves take off into the woods to find more fresh meat. She was glad this was their job and not hers. She physically cringed at the thought of having to kill something.

Daniel paused at the edge of the woods again, turning his head around to give her one last bark. 

“I’ll be ok,” she called back to him. He nodded his head, then turned back around to bound after the others.

A distant roll of thunder echoed across the sky, and she wrapped her arms around herself. They said they wouldn’t be out for long. They just needed to get enough for a couple days.

Aphmau heard a soft couple of tweets, and she turned around to look back through the open door. Four birds, two white two blue, had come to visit. They flew around the living room and perched on the seats in the kitchen. Aphmau smiled.

“You guys always know when to show up, huh?” she said. They tilted their heads back and forth and twittered at her.

Deciding she wasn’t getting anything done by standing outside, Aphmau closed the door behind her as she came inside to join them.

~

Far off, but not too far off, the disguised queen traveled down a dirt path along a stream through the woods. She hummed a tune to herself as she walked, not sure where she had originally heard it. She’d been walking for hours, and normally a task like this would be beneath her. But the reward of what lay ahead propelled her forward, eagerness in each step.

Even if she really didn’t know where she was going.

As she traveled, her mind began to wander. She began to think back to about sixteen years ago, when she had first met the king- her soon to be husband- in person. 

He was known pretty commonly to be a handsome man, and Sylvanna had had the pleasure of actually seeing him on occasion when her rich family would take trips to the palace. She had been smitten immediately. Beyond smitten, actually. She was obsessed.

And she always, always got what she wanted.

The more research she put into King Zach’s royal bloodline and family, the more desperately she needed it. The connection to old magic. The regalia. The status. Him as a prize. It seemed it would all work out so well if she planned accordingly.

So, she fought and manipulated and wriggled her way into his life as many ways as she knew how. He was just as struck by her charisma as everyone else, and gave in easily. He was hers for the taking, and they were married.

Things only went south when Sylvanna realized the one flaw in her plan- she wasn’t inheriting any of Irene’s gift. She thought certainly by inserting herself into the family line, it would be shared with her. But soon, she realized she was going to have a child.

The magic would be the  _ child’s _ .

It all seemed to come crashing down so easily. The gift, so close but so out of reach, and on top of it all rumors were spreading like wildfire that the king was having secret meetings with one or possibly more women. Sylvanna couldn’t stand it.

If she couldn’t gain the gift through marriage, she would find another way. And she would find a way to make it so that no one could ever meet with her sweet husband in secret again.

The princess was born. The king was killed. And still no magic.

For fourteen long years, Sylvanna had spent so much time and effort maintaining an appealing exterior, complaining about Aphmau’s growing beauty whenever prying ears may be listening, directing attention away from her interest in Irene’s gift. If they knew her true desire, a conclusion about what  _ really  _ happened to the king wouldn’t be long after.

All the while, seeing the signs of Irene appear more and more in her own daughter. Her own flesh and blood, traitorous, just like her father.

For fourteen years, she had withstood it.

But those fourteen years were up. 

Absentmindedly, Sylvanna stroked the plump bright red apple sitting on top of the stack in the basket on her arm. She may be wandering for a while, but she was certain she would find that cottage of werewolves eventually. They’d be out hunting. She would have free reign over the situation, as well as the princess.

She had wondered before how different things might have been if she had bothered to pursue a more… familial relationship with her daughter. Her whole life, they never bonded. And most mothers didn’t typically plot their daughter’s murders, much less so… enthusiastically.

But, Sylvanna reminded herself, she deserved everything she’d been working toward. Just one bite of the poison apple and it would all be hers.

Just one bite.

Now she just needed to _find_ _the dang cottage._

She was startled suddenly by a rustling in the leaves on the other side of the river. She tried to calm herself down, thinking of the countless squirrels and birds she’d seen along the path. But whatever this was, she realized as she looked closer, it was not a bird or a squirrel.

What it was, though, was something that could help her very much.

~

Instead of embracing the sense of anxiety in her stomach and waiting for the wolves to get back, Aphmau decided to try something a little more productive.

She was going to try to make a pie.

Unlike stew, pies were something she had seen the cooks in the kitchen do a good deal. She was no expert, and pies were notoriously difficult, especially the crust. But she was determined to give it a shot, believing that doing something while she waited was better than doing nothing.

She had gotten the idea from surveying the ingredients they had available the night before. She’d have to sacrifice a few, but she figured it wouldn’t be much of a loss considering her skill level. She threw together the ingredients, mixing them together in a bowl. The birds hopped around on the counter, some of them taking turns jumping up and down on the water pump just to watch it work. When the dough got to the right consistency, Aphmau took it out of the bowl, sprinkled some flour on the surface, and began to roll it out.

“I feel like a real kitchen maid now,” she said to the nearest bird. “Maybe if I ever go back, they’ll let me cook. Haha.”

The bird chirped in a way that sounded very much like laughter, or an imitation of hers. Aphmau cut the dough, rolling the two pieces out thinner. “Aaron always said he wanted to see what I could do. I think if he could have seen last night’s results he’d understand at least part of why that was never my job.”

Carefully, she lifted one part of the pie crust and put it in the metal dish. She smoothed it out, poking holes in the bottom. Next, she moved on to mixing together the berry filling.

“You know, he said  _ he  _ could cook,” she continued, stirring. “I find that hard to believe. He probably was just saying that to ruffle my feathers. Pun intended. Hah, maybe  _ he  _ should have been the one to get lost out here and cook a meal for these werewolves. I’m sure they’d appreciate it.”

She continued in silence for a while after that, the birds still happy to watch her move around the kitchen. She poured the berry filling into the pie crust, then started cutting the remaining dough into strips to drape across the top like she’d seen in the kitchens. It had something to do with venting  pie sus , but it also just looked nice.

“I wonder…” Aphmau said softly, draping the last stripe across the top, “if when things have died down, I should go find him.”

She left her statement hanging in the air, standing back to look at the finished (though uncooked) pie. The dough turned out a little dry, but the end result was surprisingly decent.

“Know what?” she said, putting her hands on her hips and smiling at the birds on the water pump. “I think that’s gonna be a pretty good blackberry pie.”

“Looks quite good to me!”

Aphmau violently sprang back, startled out of her skin by the  _ very  _ sudden appearance of an old woman at the open window mere feet away from her face. The woman laughed apologetically as Aphmau collected herself, the birds flying in circles around her and chattering.

“I am sorry,” the woman croaked. “I didn’t mean to scare you. But I could smell the unmistakable scent of baking from nearby. I daresay it’s a good thing I found your little abode when I did… it seems the rain is about to begin.”

Aphmau, still at a distance, took in the sight of the old woman. She wore a ragged black cloak and had long, limp white hair. Her face was covered in wrinkles, but she smiled kindly at Aphmau. On her arm was a basket of apples.

Aphmau was reminded of a time she had been to visit one of the villages in the kingdom, a long time ago. There had been some beggars in the street, some of them even being children. There was an old woman who looked very much like this one. She had been trying to sell wheat to survive. Aphmau had wished so badly that there was something she could do, but she had been hurried away before she could even speak to the woman.

She relaxed slightly, letting her guard down.

“Where did you come from?” she asked, approaching the window again. “I didn’t think there were any villages near here.”

“There aren’t,” the woman said, pulling her cloak closer to her as a light drizzle began to fall. “I’ve been traveling these woods for some time. I’m selling my prized apples.”

She lifted her arm, showing Aphmau the basket. They did certainly appear to be high quality. They could have easily been picked straight from the palace orchards themselves. The one on top especially seemed to glow.

Aphmau realized suddenly that they were getting wet, and so was the woman. She ducked her head, the rain picking up and soaking her patchy black hood. For a moment, Aphmau debated whether it was a good idea to invite her inside. She had promised she’d be careful.

But she felt such an innate sense to do something for this woman. She’d never been able to help before. But she could now.

“Here, let’s get you out of the rain,” Aphmau said, hurrying to the door. As she pulled on the handle, the birds began to dive-bomb her hand, landing on her arms and screeching at her. She shook them off, raising her eyebrows at them.

“This old homeless lady doesn’t work for the queen,” she whispered at them. Still, even as she pulled the door open and came around the side of the cottage, they zoomed in circles around her head and twittered loudly. Aphmau took the woman carefully by the arm, leading her towards the door. The birds started dive-bombing her, pecking at her face and arms.

“Can you cut that out?” Aphmau burst, astonished. She waved her arms around the old woman, shooing away the birds. The rain was starting to come down in sheets now, and they were both getting soaked. She hurried through the door, bringing the old woman with her. Before she could close the door, a raccoon had bit the hem of the woman’s cloak and was tugging at it aggressively.

“ _ Stop  _ it!” Aphmau yelled, shoving the raccoon away with her foot. She led the woman inside and poked her head out the door, looking at all the animals that had gathered to watch.

“You can’t come in if you’re going to attack this poor lady,” she called over the rain. “I’m  _ sorry _ .”

With that, she closed the door. The rain rumbled on the roof, most of the dim light being provided by candles. The woman had gone to sit in the dining room chair closest to the kitchen, and she looked at the pie sitting on the counter.

“You’re welcome to have some when it’s done,” Aphmau said, coming to join her. “It’s blackberry. It’s also really my first attempt at a pie, so… you know. It is what it is.”

“Blackberry is quite good,” the woman said. “But I have to say I have a preference for apple. Perhaps you’d like to make an apple pie next?”

“Oh, I dunno,” Aphmau said, glancing down as the woman took an apple from the basket. “I don’t have any money.”

“Oh, no charge of course,” the woman said, a smile stretching across her face. “For a lovely young woman like yourself, I’d let you have some of my apples for free. They’re exceptional. Here, have a taste.”

She held the bright red apple between herself and Aphmau. Aphmau had some trouble thinking of much of an argument when she watched the smooth, bright red surface of the fruit glint in the candlelight.

Elsewhere in the forest, the wolves were hot on the trail of what they hoped was a very lost cow. It was very rare that they were able to find a catch that big, especially so far from the villages. They had collectively decided if it got away from the herd, it was fair game. They were mostly above stealing.

Mostly.

Ryland slid down a hill, barely missing a tree as he scrambled back to his feet, Daniel sliding down next to him.

_ You’re awfully excited about catching this cow, _ he said.

_ I’ve looked in the eyes of a cow before,  _ Ryland said.  _ They don’t have souls. They feel no pain. They lack innocence. _

_ Uh, what? _

_ Also one of them pooped on me. _

_ Ah. That’s it. _

The other four wolves zoomed past them, and they hurried to follow. Typically, Dottie and Ryland and Daniel left the actual killing to the older three werewolves. But this time they had a slightly more specific motivation. Aphmau had done a lot to help them. They wanted to do something to help her.

Just as they were getting very close, Daniel realized they were being followed. He slid to a halt, turning to watch in bewilderment as several deer, racoons, and birds sprinted through the trees toward them. He couldn’t process what he was seeing. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around?

When the others stopped to turn back and look at where Daniel had gone, they saw the stampede too and stared, their ears upright and rigid on their heads. The animals ran around chaotically, jumping around the wolves and crying out.

_ What the CRAP are they so freaked out over?  _ Blaze called to the other wolves over the noise.

_ And what do they need us for??  _ Maria added.

Daniel watched the little white birds land in the trees, screeching down at him. It finally clicked in his head.

_ Is it Aphmau?  _ He asked. The wolves’ heads jerked around to look at him.

The animals bobbed their heads up and down, widening their eyes at him in confirmation.

_ The queen,  _ Blaze realized, staring at Daniel.

Without another thought, the six of them tore back through the woods, running as fast as their paws could carry them towards their home.

At the cottage, Aphmau took the apple in her hands.

“But these are your source of income,” she finally said, looking past the fruit to the old woman. “I can’t just take one.”

“Well,” the woman said conspiratorially, “that specific one is special. It’s not like the others. This one here…”

She leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper. Aphmau leaned in as well. “...is a  _ wishing  _ apple.”

Aphmau raised her eyebrows. “It’s magic?”

“Can’t you tell?” the woman asked, waving her hand around the bright red skin of the apple. “I could never give this apple to just anyone. It belongs to the princess.”

Aphmau forgot all about the other apples necessary for a whole pie as she watched the reflection of the firelight on the apple’s surface. The old woman was right, the apple was practically radiating magic. Aphmau herself could feel something within it, pulsing in an unnatural sort of way.

“Do I… take a bite?”

“That’s all it takes,” the old woman whispered. “One bite.”

The storm raged around the wolves as they continued to run through the undergrowth of the woods. One by one, they leapt across a pond in a single bound, the whole army of animals close behind them. Birds zoomed through the air. Deer bounded through the rain.

As the werewolves grew closer and closer to the clearing, they barked over the thunder.

_ Aphmau! _

_We’re coming, Aphmau!_ _  
__BE CAREFUL! Don’t trust her!_ _  
  
_

While the woman watched, almost hungrily, Aphmau held the apple to her lips.

_ I wish I could find Aaron again,  _ she thought.  _ And we can start over. _

She took a bite, savoring the flavor.

It was certainly unlike any other fruit she’d had before. She really couldn’t even compare the flavor to an apple. The flesh was soft, sweet, and savory all at the same time. The pure essence of the flavor seemed to burn her tongue.

The burning didn’t stop, though.

She coughed as the sensation spread down her throat. The woman leaned in in what Aphmau could only assume was concern, watching as she took a few steps back. Alarm spread through Aphmau’s system. She didn’t know what was happening or how to react. Black spots danced before her eyes, and she found herself gasping for air.

The last coherent thought she had was that the woman had called her a princess before. And she had never mentioned that she was the princess.

The queen’s eyes were nearly popping out of her head as she stepped back, the young girl stumbling and falling to the floor before her. She went limp on the ground, her face hidden in her arm. The apple rolled across the floor, landing bite-up at the queen’s feet.

The queen waited four seconds. Five.

Holding her breath in anticipation, she leaned down and looked carefully at the body.

No movement. Not even a breath.

The queen rose up, thunder and lightning crashing behind her in the open window as she triumphantly bellowed out laughter. She whooped, raising her arms in the air.

Aphmau’s beauty didn’t matter in the end. Her kindness didn’t matter.

The queen  _ still  _ got what she wanted.

She ALWAYS got what she wanted.

The wolves came into sight of the cottage just in time to see the old hag coming out the front door, barely visible through the sheets of rain.

Her scent might have thrown them off, but they knew full well who she was. Barking viciously, the six of them charged towards her. 

She spotted them through the storm, hurrying as fast as she could away from the clearing. She hated the forest animals, and she hated the werewolves. She hated how protective they were of all that she wanted gone.

It didn’t matter. Soon enough they’d see she succeeded.

The chase continued through the woods, the queen dashing through the trees and pulling down branches and vines behind her, slowing the wolves down as much as she could. Birds reached her first, pecking at her, but she plowed on. 

The trees began to disappear, replaced by rocks and boulders. Up ahead, there was a tall cliff leading up the side of a tall, treacherously steep and jagged hill. The wind and rain howled around the queen as she hurried toward it, the sounds of baying wolves and stampeding animals behind her. 

She cackled over the chaos, a plan forming in her head as she looked up to the top of the cliff. Didn’t they realize she’d already succeeded? That they could only face failure from where they stood?

The wolves hopped over rocks and fallen limbs, climbing the hill behind her. Maria saw from the head of the group where the queen was going, and how she had her sights set on the largest loose boulder at the top of the cliff.

_ She’s going to roll the boulder down the hill at us,  _ she yelled down towards her friends. Separated by the raging storm and only a few yards, the wolves screeched to a halt as they looked up at the hag queen as she took a large stick from the ground, going at the boulder in an attempt to get it moving.

_ Do we move anyway?  _ Dotty called.  _ She’s so close to the edge. _

_ We’re definitely faster than her. _

_Wait!_ Daniel yapped, rising up on his hindlegs before the wolves could run too far away. _If we kill her, we’ll be stuck like this for good!_ _  
_ The wolves froze, looking at each other and letting what Daniel said sink in. He was right.

_ And imagine what Aphmau would feel like if she knew we KILLED HER MOM. _

So what could they do?

_ We just need to make sure she can’t get away,  _ Blaze decided, watching as the hag continued to push at the boulder. It finally loosened, and she shoved it, sending it down the cliffside at the animals. 

In the rush to move out of the way, wolves, birds, deer, and every other forest creature zoomed all over the rocks. Some moved up the hill, some down, some over the side.

In the chaos, Dotty almost missed Ein hopping over the boulder, zooming up the rocks toward the queen.

In one leap, he slammed his paws into her chest, scrambling back as she was sent screeching over the edge, the rain and the rocks coming with her.

The rain pounded all around the wolves as they stood in disbelief, watching Ein stand at the rocks’ edge, panting and watching the hag fall.

Nobody knew what to do, or how to react, so nobody moved. In the distance, Dotty saw vultures emerge from the trees, circling.

Finally, Blaze broke the stunned silence, snapping at Ein and baring his fangs. _WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?_ He demanded. _ARE YOU INSANE?? WERE YOU NOT LISTENING? WE’LL BE STUCK AS WOLVES FOR GOOD WITHOUT HER!_ _  
_ Ein didn’t turn around, his dark fur soaked by the rain. _I know what I did,_ he huffed. 

_ You’re not the only wolf in this pack, Ein,  _ Maria growled, coming to stand next to Blaze. 

Ein didn’t respond. Without a word, he hopped up onto a higher boulder, climbing the rocks and disappearing into the trees above.

Angrily, Maria scrambled after him, but Blaze stepped in front of her.

_ Let him go,  _ he growled.  _ There’s nothing we can do now. _

So the wolves did the only thing they knew to do, and that was go back home to assess the damage. Uncertainty and fear of the worst urged them to move faster, dripping as they ran back down the rocky cliffside towards the woods connecting to the clearing. When they finally reached the cottage, they didn’t even bother to go all the way to the front door. The others followed Blaze’s lead in hopping in through the window. 

They saw the apple first. Then, her outstretched arm. Then her.

The five of them slowly and silently circled around her, sniffing her and nudging her. She gave no reaction, no sign of life.

_ No,  _ Dotty whimpered, backing against the wall.

The wolves stood still as statues, looking down at their friend.

They had been too late.

Blaze silently cursed himself, both for thinking it would be ok to leave her on her own and for letting the princess down in the most ultimate way possible. There was no way to undo this. No way to avenge her.

And no future for any of them. A sense of hopelessness settled in as the wolves processed.

_ What do we do now?  _ Ryland finally asked.

Their heads suddenly snapped around to look at the door, the sound of movement outside. The rain had died down, and the sounds of the woods were more audible. But this wasn’t the woods.

There was a brief knock on the door before it creaked open, and the tiniest patch of sunlight came through, illuminating the newcomer.

Aaron looked around at each of the wolves. Then his gaze fell on Aphmau.

The wolves stood back as he entered, letting the door close behind him. He was just as wet as they were, and just as windswept, as if he had gotten there in a hurry. Without taking his eyes off Aphmau, he knelt down before her.

“I saw what happened on the cliff from a distance,” he muttered. “I wondered… I wondered if it meant what I thought it did.”

Daniel began to cry, whining as he laid his chin on Aphmau’s hair. Still looking at her, Aaron rubbed Daniel’s head softly.

“I should have thought to come here first,” he said. “It makes so much sense you guys would find her. Or she found you.”

Blaze huffed, coming to sit next to Aaron.  _ I thought the palace worker in her stories sounded familiar. It must have been you. _

“She told stories about me?” Aaron asked, his voice more flat than curious. His hand drifted down to the lavender ribbon still tied in her hair.

_ She said you saved her life. _

“For a short while,” he said, finally drawing his hand away. “The queen still found her in the end.”

Nobody had anything hopeful to say. So nobody said anything. The soft sunlight was finally beginning to shine through the clouds outside, sending rays in and illuminating the room. But even the sunlight did little to lift the sense of gloom and grief that hung over them all.


	7. chapter 7 (final)

~

Unlike what the queen had hoped, the werewolves couldn’t bring themselves to bury the princess. Having Aaron back at the cottage, they were able to create an ornate glass casket, and they set her inside with as many colorful flowers as they could find. They put them all around her, including in her hair. It just seemed fitting.

They set the casket along with some long-burning candles in the garden, keeping a constant vigil by her side. 

For three days, they kept this up, figuring out where to go from there. Aaron continued to be their main source of resources, going into towns and finding merchants to buy food and supplies from. The wolves couldn’t really find it in them to go out and hunt much anymore, especially after all the animals of the forest had gone through to help Aphmau.

Throughout all this, Ein never returned. None of them knew where he was or if they would ever see him again.

It was on the fourth day that it happened.

Taking the day off from riding into town for food, Aaron came out to the garden to sit with the wolves around the casket. Dotty, Daniel, and Ryland all lay huddled together as usual, right on top of the lid at her feet. Blaze sat upright at her head, watching some birds flitting around in the treetops. Maria paced, unsure of what to do with herself.

Aaron sat against the casket, blinking in the spring sunlight. He was still getting used to going around without the cloth tied around his eyes. It had always been there for a good reason, but since he was spending so much time around the werewolves, he didn’t need it as often.

He wished Aphmau could have had a chance to see him without it. It almost felt… insincere that she never actually saw his eyes.

He looked back at her face, which always seemed to catch the sunlight perfectly wherever it was. Aaron had to admit, he had a little experience with girls expressing interest in him. It wasn’t completely out of the question. But he had always assumed he’d never feel the same about anyone.

That was before he met Aphmau.

Without a doubt, he cared about her in a way he’d never cared about anyone else. But she was gone.

But for some reason, a part of her still felt present.

Standing up, Aaron moved to take off the lid. They did this on occasion, just to let the breeze in and because animals sometimes liked to curl up in her lap. Dotty, Ryland, and Daniel hopped off, watching as he set the glass covering carefully on the ground. He sat back down at her side, adjusting a few flowers tucked around her skirt.

He’d laughed at her obsession with flowers before. But now they didn’t even seem to be worthy of her.

Dotty hopped up next to her face, putting one more daisy in her hair just behind her ear. A few loose strands blew in the breeze, and Aaron leaned forward to tuck them back. He hung close to her face. It was still warm, maybe from the sun.

Softly, he planted a kiss on her cheek.

He sat back, watching the shadows of the leaves above them dance across her face.

He could have sworn he saw one of her eyebrows move slightly.

He froze, looking again. Her expression was definitely shifting. Her eyebrows furrowed, her lips parting slightly. 

Then he noticed the glow.

It seemed to be coming off her skin, bright as the patches of sun all around her. The wolves stood straight, their ears perked towards her. Her eyes snapped open, glowing the same bright white.

Aaron stumbled back, rapidly trying to process the situation. Before he could really think or act, though, he saw the wolves slowly rising into the air radiating the same glow. It grew so bright, Aaron had to shield his eyes.

Behind his arm, he heard their whining and barking shift into something else.

Hardly daring to believe it, he moved his arms and squinted in the brightness. The light faded. He blinked at the sight before him.

Five werewolves stood before him. But they weren’t wolves anymore.

Dotty, Blaze, Daniel, Maria, and Ryland all looked down at themselves and each other in amazement, their mouths open. 

“She… removed the curse!” Dotty gasped, her voice fully human. She covered her mouth both in surprise and excitement. 

Seeing movement behind them, they all spun around to look at Aphmau. Aaron watched with wide eyes as she squinted, blinking a few times as the glow faded. She sat up, a few flowers falling off her.

Everyone in the garden hardly moved, barely even daring to breathe. Aphmau looked around at them all, the sleepiness in her eyes quickly being replaced by wide-eyed astonishment.

She twitched suddenly, the glow flashing in her eyes. One of the flower buds in her hair sprouted at the speed of light, falling out into her lap. She stared at it. 

“I think,” she said, softly, “I am in need of some filling in.”

“So are we,” Daniel breathed. Aphmau turned around to look at him. All the werewolves seemed to range in age from about twelve to eighteen, Daniel being the former and Blaze and Maria being the latter. Ryland seemed to be around Aphmau’s own age while Dotty could be 16 or 17. She noticed in particular that all their hair seemed to be the exact same shade that their previous fur had been, and their eyes were recognizable as well. Most curious of all, though, was the set of dog ears each of them had.

“I’ve heard stories before about spells being broken by a kiss,” Dotty said, her bright blue eyes more expressive in human form. “Like in fairytales.”

Aphmau, mouthing the word  _ kiss _ , finally turned to look at Aaron.

Her eyes drifted up.

He followed her gaze, looking up at the red-tipped dog ears on his own head.

Sheepishly, he met her gaze again.

“ _ You  _ were the seventh werewolf?” she whispered, slowly bringing her legs over the side of the casket. As she stood and began to slowly walk toward him, he found himself coming to meet her. “Uh… yeah,” he said awkwardly. For whatever reason, he found it all impossible to explain. “You… probably understand why I had to keep that hidden.”

“Yeah,” she breathed, coming to stand in front of him. “Yeah. Of course. But…” she furrowed her eyebrows, frowning at the grass. “I feel so incredibly lost right now. How long has it been? What happened to my mom? And- and why weren’t  _ you  _ stuck in your wolf form? And why did you always have your eyes covered?”

Aaron went through her questions in his head, glancing at the others for support. Dotty came to stand next to Aphmau, putting a hand on her shoulder (and then staring at her hand like she’d forgotten what that felt like).

“About three days ago, the queen disguised herself as that old woman to come and kill you herself with a poisoned apple,” she said. “We chased her up a cliff, and… well, we tried to keep her alive. But she ended up being pushed over the edge. We checked ourselves. She’s dead.”

Aphmau processed this, still watching the grass. Another spring breeze blew through, gently blowing on everyone’s hair.

“And your questions about Aaron can actually be answered in one,” Dotty said, nodding pointedly at him and backing away. He looked back at Aphmau’s eyes, which were golden brown and locked on his own.

“Well…” he said, running a hand through his hair. “You’re not the only one in a magic bloodline.”

She raised an eyebrow. He continued.

“People often refer to the family line of the first werewolf as the ‘ultima’ bloodline. That’s… that’s me. The first one died so long ago most people don’t really know where his descendents are now, but some werewolves do. My family has a little more control over what form we take, as well as the ability to turn humans to werewolves. That, um, tends to kill them first, though. So it’s not really common. That’s why I kept my eyes covered. I never know when it’s kicking in.”

“Oh,” Aphmau said, still processing, still staring.

She finally looked back up at him.

“And your family is…?”

“That’s something you and I have in common,” he said. “Gone.”

“I’m… sorry, Aaron.”

“Well, you’re the one who was just assassinated by her mother.”

The other werewolves winced, shaking their heads at Aaron, who hastily opened his mouth to apologize. But Aphmau smiled, taking his hands.

“I know this is all probably going to take a while to really set in,” she said. “But I think I’m ready to face it. As long as I have you guys with me.”

“Of course!” Ryland spoke up, hurrying to stand by her side. “With the queen gone, we can probably come out of hiding now, right?”

“I believe,” Aaron said, taking a step back, “we’re  _ looking  _ at the queen.”

Aphmau’s mouth popped open as Aaron knelt in front of her. All around her, the werewolves got down, following his lead. As she watched, even the birds in the trees dipped their heads, the deer bending down.

She stood in the center of it all, the sun shining down on everything.

“Yeah,” she finally said, the only thing she could think of to say coming out first. “I think werewolves are legal now.”

~

A week passed. Aphmau returned to the palace, bringing with her the werewolves and as many answers as she could.

The preparations were complete. It was time for the official coronation.

For the first time in years, civilians were allowed in the palace. Workers rushed all over the place, making sure the tables, the elaborate decorations, and the flowers were all in place. So much around the castle was changing with the shift in the monarchy, the overworked servants being re-staffed, previously unused rooms being repurposed. Even Sylvanna’s secret brewing chamber under the garden was sorted through, the more dangerous materials being disposed of.

Despite all these changes, there were a few things that just seemed to have been hard-ironed into some members of the staff. More often than not, the advisors and assistants were meant to leave the queen alone. They developed a habit of avoiding her partially due to this rule but also because of her intimidation.

And even though there was a new queen, they seemed to still follow this mindset. It was mere minutes before Aphmau was to appear in front of the people. And she sat alone in the quarters behind the throne room, listening to the muffled sound of voices coming from behind the door.

She fidgeted her hands in her lap, trying very hard not to pick at her gown. It had belonged to her mother, since they hadn’t had the chance really to tailor her a new one. It was the one best suited to her, though, she thought. The long white silk skirt with the flowing pink piece in the middle attached to a gold decorated bodice, the sleeves long and swoopy. They had also given her a dark red cape to wear, the color of the kingdom. Golden flowers were braided in her hair. Altogether it looked quite regal.

She jumped as the doors cracked open slightly, and a figure appeared at the end of the room. Aphmau stood, wondering if someone had finally come to tell her what to do.

It was Aaron. He closed the door behind him, and Aphmau slid back down into the chair she had been sitting on for nearly half an hour.

“Did you get lost?” she asked, her voice echoing across the high-ceiling room. “I think the spectators are supposed to be out there. And not here. In the chamber of solitude.”

“You’ve really been in here by yourself this whole time?” Aaron asked back as he came toward her. He was dressed nicer today, the usual hunting getup replaced by a more expensive-looking black jacket. To her surprise, the red cloth was still nowhere to be seen.

When she didn’t respond, Aaron came to sit on the velvet bench next to her. Through all the transition, he always seemed to be by her side. He was still just as snarky and straightforward as always. But now he seemed determined to support her.

“Maybe this is how your mom preferred it,” he ventured, looking around at the huge, vacant room. “Nobody to bother her but herself.”

Aphmau looked down at her hands, which had gone right back to fidgeting with the dress. It was a much finer material than her one good dress from before had been. She wondered if her mother had ever actually worn it.

“I don’t know how to process her really being gone,” she finally said. “I always… I guess I always wanted us to be closer than we were. But I realize now she never wanted what was best for me. As long as I had what she wanted she would always want me out of her life.”

Aaron’s hand came to rest on top of hers, and her face began to warm.

“Something needed to budge,” he said. “Or else it was just going to go on like that forever until she finally succeeded. You saw how far she was willing to go. And now you’ve got the chance to really explore the powers you were born with.”

At this, Aphmau raised her free hand slightly and opened her fingers, allowing a small glowing white and orange flame float above her palm. It was warm, but not hot. Alive, but silent.

She certainly had a long way to go.

“I figure nobody’s ever actually going to come back here and tell you where to go,” Aaron said, standing up and offering her a hand. “I think you should go ahead and get in there before the wolves explode. Dotty’s been speculating what you’d look like to no end, I haven’t heard her stop to take a breath.”

Aphmau felt a grin cross her face as she stood and took his hand. “I suppose they could have just snuck back here like you did.”

“Nah, I’ve been practicing being stealthy and discreet for years,” Aaron said as the two of them made their way across the room. “Even if I wasn’t allowed to come back here none of the guards would have seen me long enough to stop me. Though, I have to admit one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know why they need such a large number of guards. They have out all the fancy ceremonial weapons, too. It just feels like a bit much considering they’re only guarding a  _ potato _ .”

Aphmau blinked, turning and raising her eyebrows at him. Then, before she could help it, she was doubling over with laughter. Aaron tried to hold back a smirk of his own as he pulled her back up straight.

“You know you’re gonna have to start referring to me more respectfully,” she said, putting the snootiest Sylvanna-like face on that she could manage. “I’m going to be your  _ almighty majesty _ . The  _ queen _ .”

“Yeah. They’re crowning a potato.”

“Shut up!”  
Still laughing, their faces shining bright in the beams of light provided by the sunshine outside, the two of them made their way through the huge double doors and into the great hall awaiting them.

  
  


_ End~ _


End file.
